LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

RECEIVED    BY    EXCHANGE 

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AN   INTRODUCTION 

TO   THE 

SOURCES  RELATING  TO  THE 
GERMANIC  INVASIONS 


CAELTON  HUNTLEY  HAYES,  A.  M. 

Leeturtr  in  Hiatory  in  ColumBia  University 


SUBMITTED  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 

FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

IN  THE 

Faculty  of  Political  Science 
Columbia  University 


1909 


^' 


"^ 


Copyright,  1909 

BY 

CARLTON  HUNTLEY  HAYES 


OF    THE  ^ 

UNIVERSITY 

CF 


PREFACE 

The  following  pages  are  an  outgrowth  of  a  course  on  the 
dissolution  of  the  Roman  Empire  which  the  author  pursued 
at  Columbia  University  during  the  academic  year  1905-1906 
under  the  direction  of  Professor  James  Harvey  Robinson. 
The  study  centered  chiefly  about  what  was  evidently  the 
most  fateful  factor  in  the  process  of  the  disruption  of  the 
empire, — the  entrance  of  the  Germans;  and  it  occurred  to 
the  writer  that  the  story  of  barbarian  immigration  might 
be  conveniently  culled  from  the  sources,  done  into  English, 
and  presented  frankly  with  full  confession  of  the  obscurity, 
the  frequent  contradictions,  and  the  fragmentary  character 
of  the  narratives,  and  without  imaginative  reconstructions 
or  interpretations.  But  after  two  years'  study  of  the  long 
list  of  sources,  it  became  apparent  that  the  complete  fruition 
of  such  an  undertaking  would  be  the  result  only  of  a  labor 
of  many  years.  Accordingly  it  has  been  thought  expedient 
at  this  time  to  publish  a  review  of  precisely  what  are  the 
most  important  sources  relating  to  the  Germans  from 
Caesar's  "  Commentaries "  and  Plutarch's  "  Life  of 
Marius  "  down  to  Paul  the  Deacon's  "  History  of  the  Lom- 
bards," together  with  extracts,  translated  into  English, 
illustrative  of  their  general  character  and  relative  merit. 

"  Germanic  Invasions  "  has  been  selected  as  a  convenient 
term  to  designate  all  the  movements  by  which  Germans  and 
other  northern  peoples  came  within  the  borders  of  the 
Roman  commonwealth:  it  includes  peaceful  immigration, 
whether  individual  or  tribal,  marauding  expeditions,  settle- 
ments fixed  by  treaty,  armed  invasions,  even  entrance  as 
4"]  5 


192417 


6  PREFACE  [412 

soldiers  or  slaves  of  the  empire, — in  a  word,  every  manner 
by  which  a  barbarian  of  the  north  came  into  immediate 
contact  with  Roman  institutions  and  Roman  civilization. 
Thus  it  embraces  the  armed  invasion  and  attempted  settle- 
ment of  northern  tribes  over  a  hundred  years  before  Christ 
and  all  the  subsequent  Germanic  movements  down  through 
the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  which  witnessed  migrations  of 
entire  peoples,  repeated  sacks  of  Rome,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  practically  independent  "  kingdoms  "  on  the  soil  of 
the  empire.  The  principal  sources  for  the  eighth  century, 
when  the  barbarians  were  extensively  and  permanently 
settled  in  their  new  homes,  provide  a  suitable  stopping-point 
for  the  review,  although  the  expeditions  of  the  Northmen, 
Slavs,  and  Hungarians  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries 
might  almost  be  reckoned  among  the  "  Germanic  In- 
vasions." 

The  sources  under  review  are  exclusively  Latin  or  Greek. 
The  early  Germans  themselves  left  no  records,  not  a  book, 
not  an  inscription,  not  a  monument.  The  epic  poems,  the 
sagas  and  the  songs,  of  Scandinavia  and  Germany,  were 
mediaeval,  not  ancient.  Their  old  traditions  and  customs 
were  recorded  solely  by  natives  of  the  Mediterranean  region, 
foreigners  to  them.  And,  as  Fustel  de  Coulanges  has  said. 
What  should  we  know  of  the  Egyptians  if  we  derived  every- 
thing from  Greek  sources? 

Then  too,  the  sources  for  the  period  are  mainly  narrative. 
The  documentary  sources,  which  should  accompany  and 
check  personal  impressions,  are  difficult  to  understand  and 
in  the  past  have  been  a  subject  of  special  investigation  by 
lawyers  rather  than  by  historians:  it  is  hardly  possible  in 
a  summary  of  this  kind  to  give  them  the  prominence  they 
deserve.  Further,  the  limits  of  the  present  work  have  ex- 
cluded altogether  the  scant  monumental  sources  relating  to 
the  Germanic  invasions. 


413]  PREFACE  7 

The  apology  for  this  slender  review,  which  the  writer 
presents  with  considerable  diffidence,  is  its  uniqueness.  His- 
tories of  classical  literature  treat  usually  of  but  a  small 
part  of  the  field  here  covered,  and  their  comments  on  the 
historical  are  almost  invariably  choked  by  their  apprecia- 
tions of  the  purely  literary.  On  the  other  hand,  the  great 
guides  to  the  general  sources  of  the  middle  age — Potthast, 
Molinier,  Wattenbach,  Ebert,  Gross — hardly  go  back  of 
the  reign  of  Theodosius  the  Great  If  the  present  work 
prove  in  any  way  useful  or  suggestive  as  a  brief  outline  of 
our  chief  sources  of  information  about  the  Germanic  In- 
vasions, and  an  introduction  to  a  more  careful  and  pains- 
taking study  on  specific  points,  it  will  have  accomplished 
every  desired  end. 

The  author  is  under  obligations  in  one  way  or  another  to 
those  mentioned  in  the  footnotes  or  in  the  final  bibliography, 
and  he  has  made  use  of  the  indicated  translations  while 
often  assuming  the  liberty  to  amend  them.  To  Professor 
James  Harvey  Robinson  of  Columbia  University,  the  writer 
owes  the  greatest  debt:  Professor  Robinson  has  been  his 
guide  throughout  his  graduate  work  as  well  as  the  father 
and  designer  of  this  work  and  has  repeatedly  suggested 
many  helpful  ideas,  the  poor  expression  of  which  is  the 
writer's.  To  Professor  James  Thomson  Shotwell  of 
Columbia  University,  who  also  has  given  valuable  and  help- 
ful counsel  and  has  sacrificed  many  hours  to  the  tiresome 
task  of  reading  copy  and  proof,  the  author  is  under  special 
obligations. 

C  H.  H. 
Columbia  University,  New  York,  May,  1909. 


CONTENTS 


FAAB 

CHAPTER  I 
Introduction 13 

CHAPTER  II 
Plutarch 19 

CHAPTER  III 

CiESAR 30 

CHAPTER  IV 

Historians  and  Geographers  of  the  EarlyjPrincipate. 

Velleius  Paterculus 36 

Florus 39 

Appian 40 

Suetonius 40 

Strabo   .       41 

Pliny 44 

Pomponius  Mela 44 

CHAPTER  V 
Tacitus 46 

CHAPTER  VI 

Narrative  Sources  of  the  Second,  Third  and  Fourth  Cen- 
turies. 

Die  Cassius 54 

Herodian 56 

Augustan  Historians i  •   •  5^ 

Eutropius 59 

Aurelius  Victor 59 

Ammianus  Marcellinus 60 

415]  9 


lO  CONTENTS 


[416 


CHAPTER  VII  ''''*'^ 

Relations  of  the  Germans  to  the  Empire  from  Julius  Cjesar 
TO  Theodosius  the  Great 64 

CHAPTER  VIII 
General  Character  of  the  Germanic  Invasions 82 

CHAPTER  IX 

Sources  from  Theodosius  the  Great  to  Justinian. 

Zosimus 88 

Greek  Fragments 98 

CHAPTER  X 

Sources  from   Theodosius    the   Great    to   Justinian    (Con- 
tinued): The  Ecclesiastical  Historians. 

Augustine 104 

Orosius 106 

Eusebius  and  his  Continuators ^ 118 

Sulpicius  Severus 120 

CHAPTER  XI 

Sources   from   Theodosius    the   Great    to   Justinian    (Con- 
tinued): Other  Christian  Writers. 

Jerome 121 

Salvian 124 

Victor  Vitensis 127 

Saints'  Lives 127 

CHAPTER  XII 

Sources   from   Theodosius    the   Great    to   Justinian    (Con- 
tinued) :  Poets  and  Panegyrists 134 

CHAPTER  XIII 

Sources   from   Theodosius    the   Great    to  Justinian    (Con- 
tinued): The  Chroniclers 145 

CHAPTER  XIV 

Sources   from   Theodosius    the   Great    to   Justinian    (Con- 
tinued) : 

Cassiodorus I55 

Jordanes 158 

Procopius 168 


417]  CONTENTS  II 

FAGS 

CHAPTER  XV 

Sources  from  Justinian  to  Pippin. 

Gildas 178 

Gregory  the  Great 182 

Gregory  of  Tours 184 

Venantius  Fortunatus i8g 

Isidore  of  Seville 191 

Venerable  Bede 192 

Pseudo-Fredegarius 192 

Gesta  regutn  Francorum 194 

Paul  the  Deacon 19S 

CHAPTER  XVI 

Documentary  Sources. 

Roman  and  Barbarian  Codes 199 

Ecclesiastical  Legislation 218 

Bibliography 224 

Index  of  Sources 227 


^     OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


CHAPTER  I 

Introduction 

Who  the  Germans  were  and  whence  they  came  no  one 
knows.  One  theory,  advanced  and  supported  by  eminent 
scholars  and  writers  of  the  nineteenth  century,  was  based 
largely  on  the  comparative  study  of  languages  resulting  from 
the  discovery  of  Sanscrit.  This  presupposed  the  existence 
in  primitive  times  of  a  distinct  white  or  Aryan  race,  which 
migrated  in  great  troops  from  its  original  home  in  the 
valley  of  Mesopotamia  or  in  the  Hindu  Kush  through  Asia 
into  Europe.  These  various  troops  brought  with  them  a 
common  patrimony  of  language  and  civil  and  religious  in- 
stitutions, though  variously  developed  by  reason  of  differ- 
ent local  conditions;  and  they  entered  Europe  at  various 
successive  times :  the  Italo-Greeks,  the  Celts,  the  Germans, 
and  finally  the  Slavs.  It  was  generally  held  that  the  Aryans 
invaded  Europe  from  east  to  west,  and  then  from  north  to 
south,  subjugating  the  primitive  and  savage  peoples  with 
whom  they  came  in  contact.  Each  invading  troop  sought 
to  displace  the  preceding  one,  and  it  was  thus  that  in  his- 
toric times  the  Germans  fought  and  at  last  overcame  the 
people  of  the  Roman  empire. 

Present-day  anthropologists,  however,  tend  to  modify,  if 
not  to  destroy,  this  theory  of  an  Aryan  race :  they  make  clear 
that  race,  as  used  to  denote  peculiar  variations  of  physical 
characters  —  especially  head-form,  color  and  stature,  —  is 
quite  independent  of  language  or  nationality.  The  same 
language  may  be  spoken  and  the  same  general  customs  fol- 
lowed by  peoples  of  different  physical  characteristics  and 
419]  13 


14  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [420 

by  different  nations.  A  language  and  certain  customs,  de- 
veloped by  a  given  population  in  a  definite  region,  may 
spread  beyond  their  original  area  among  neighboring  popu- 
lations, or  they  may  shrink  until  they  are  used  by  a  mere 
fragment  of  the  people  that  gave  them  birth.  The  boun- 
daries of  a  nation  or  the  political  organization  of  a  tribe 
may  be  changed  by  a  single  battle,  irrespective  of  the  lan- 
guages spoken  or  the  social  customs  prevailing  or  the  races 
represented  in  the  affected  region. 

With  these  facts  in  mind,  the  anthropologists  have  set  out 
to  study  the  physical  characteristics  of  peoples,  but  the  statis- 
tics gathered  so  far  are  at  best  relatively  scanty  and  admit 
of  wide  differences  of  interpretation  as  to  the  classification 
and  origin  of  races.  A  few  scholars  still  adhere  to  the 
Asiatic  origin  of  Europe's  dominant  peoples,  but  many 
others  now  affirm  that  the  northern,  or  Teutonic,  peoples  as 
well  as  most  of  those  of  the  Mediterranean  region  emigrated 
originally  from  Africa,^  while  still  others  trace  racial  differ- 

1  William  Z.  Ripley  (The  Races  of  Europe,  New  York,  1899)  con- 
cludes that  there  are  three  race-types  in  Europe.  The  first  has  a  long 
head,  long  face,  dark-brown  or  black  hair,  dark  eyes,  a  rather  broad 
nose,  and  a  slender  frame  of  medium  stature.  The  second  has  a  broad 
or  round  head,  a  broad  face,  light-chestnut  hair,  hazel-gray  eyes,  a 
variable  nose — though  rather  broad  and  heavy — a  stocky  build  and 
medium  stature.  The  third  has  a  long  head,  a  long  face,  light  hair, 
blue  eyes,  a  narrow  aquiline  nose,  and  tall  stature.  Mr.  Ripley  desig- 
nates these  types  as  Mediterranean,  Alpine  and  Teutonic  respectively, 
his  Alpine  type  being  the  Celtic  of  many  other  writers.  He  states  his 
opinion  regarding  the  origin  of  the  three  race-types  that  the  long- 
headed brunette  Mediterranean  is  an  African  type,  showing  some  ap- 
proach to  the  negro;  that  the  Teutonic  is  an  offshoot  from  the  Medi- 
terranean, locally  developed  amid  peculiar  physiographic  surround- 
ings; and  that  the  broad-headed  Alpine  tjrpe  is  Asiatic  and  has  moved 
in  like  a  wedge  between  the  two  European  populations  before  the  dawn 
of  recorded  history.  Mr.  Ripley  finds  nowhere  absolute  purity  of  race ; 
almost  everywhere  two,  or  all  three,  of  the  fundamental  races  come 
into  contact  and  influence  one  another.     See  also  G.  Sergei,  Thg  Medi- 


42 1  ]  IN  TROD  UCTION  1 5 

ences  almost  entirely  to  environment  or  lapse  into  skepticism 
about  the  whole  matter. 

It  is  sufficient  for  our  purposes  to  point  out  that  there  is 
no  conclusive  proof  as  to  the  exact  origin  of  the  Germans. 
In  prehistoric  times  they  may  have  been  black  men  living 
under  the  cocoanut  trees  of  central  Africa  or  they  may  have 
had  yellow  skins  and  tended  flocks  on  the  slopes  of  the 
Himalayas,  or  perhaps,  as  Tacitus  intimates  with  an  ignor- 
ance as  colossal  as  our  own,  they  may  simply  have  sprung 
from  the  soil  in  northern  Europe,  blue-eyed  and  yellow- 
haired.  Nor  have  we  conclusive  proof  that  the  "Germanic" 
invasions  of  historic  times  were  effected  by  a  homogeneous 
people  of  Tacitean  type;  on  the  contrary,  there  is  evidence 
to  show  that  there  were  notable  differences  among  the 
invaders. 

These  differences  did  not  appeal  to  the  ancient  writers  as 
much  as  on  first  thought  we  might  anticipate.  Very  few 
writers  visited  the  Germans  in  their  own  settlements.  And 
we  should  not  expect  the  Romans  to  make  any  clean-cut 
racial  distinction  between  themselves  and  the  Germans  when 
we  remember  what  "  Roman  "  meant.  The  Roman  com- 
monwealth grew  gradually  and  fortuitously  from  a  city- 
state  on  the  Tiber  into  an  empire  completely  encircling 
the  Mediterranean,  and  including  in  itself  a  vast  number  of 
peoples  profoundly  differing  from  each  other  in  language 
and  characteristics.  The  word  "  Roman "  followed  the 
territorial  and  political  expansion  of  the  commonwealth, 
until,  in  accordance  with  the  famous  edict  of  Caracalla  in 

terranean  Race  (London,  1901).  J.  Deniker,  Races  of  Man  (London, 
1900),  distinguishes  ten  race-types  in  Europe.  Ripley  states  in  a 
criticism  of  Deniker's  work :  "  The  eye  has  been  blurred  by  the  vision 
of  anthropometric  divergences,  so  that  it  has  failed  to  notice  simil- 
arities." Ripley  has  been  similarly  criticized  by  Professor  F.  Boas  for 
refusing  to  recognize  a  single  white  race,  of  which  there  are  branches 
due  to  local  environmental  conditions. 


l6  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [422 

A.  D.  212,  a  Roman  citizen  might  be  a  Briton  at  York  or  a 
Spaniard  at  New  Carthage  or  a  Greek  at  Corinth  or  a 
Syrian  at  Damascus.  Everyone  within  the  community  of 
law  was  a  "  Roman;"  everyone  outside  was  a  "barbarian." 
Thus  "  barbarian  "  meant  simply  a  foreigner,  an  alien,  and 
was  applied  alike  to  Parthian,  German,  Nubian  and  Hun. 
Citizenship,  not  language  or  custom  or  race,  was  the  su- 
preme test  with  the  Roman ;  and  the  babel  of  peoples  which 
composed  the  Roman  commonwealth  was  not  concerned 
with  nice  distinctions  between  foreign  tribes. 

The  ancient  writers,  in  fact,  hardly  had  the  anthro- 
pological idea  of  race  at  all,  for  their  gradual  discrimina- 
tion between  barbarians  was  founded  chiefly  on  differences 
of  language  or  customs.  Pytheas  of  Marseilles  had  recog- 
nized a  people  distinct  from  the  Celts  whom  he  called 
Scythians,  but  it  was  much  later  before  we  hear  about  Ger- 
man characteristics.  The  names  Germani  and  Germania 
do  not  seem  to  have  been  appellations  applied  by  any  people 
to  themselves ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  Romans  borrowed 
the  words  from  Gallic  peoples  to  designate  at  first  specific 
tribes  across  the  Rhine  and  later  all  the  vague  and  varied 
populations  who  lived  beyond  the  northern  frontier. 
Tacitus  wrote  about  a  hundred  years  after  Christ: 

The  name  "  Germania,"  they  say,  is  modem  and  of  recent  ap- 
plication, since  those  who  first  crossed  the  Rhine  and  expelled 
the  Gauls,  and  who  are  now  called  "  Tungri,"  were  then  named 
"  Germani ;"  thus  what  had  been  a  tribal  name,  not  a  national 
name,  spread  little  by  little,  so  that  later  they  all  adopted  the 
newly-coined  appellation  that  was  first  employed  by  the  con- 
querors to  inspire  fear  and  called  themselves  "  Germani "} 

^  Germania,  2.  Wachter  and  Grimm  suggest  that  the  root  in  "  Ger- 
mani "  is  identical  with  that  in  the  old  Irish  battle-cry,  gairtn. 


423]  INTRODUCTION  1 7 

That  the  names  Deutsch  and  Teuton,  as  generic  designa- 
tions, do  not  belong  to  antiquity,  is  generally  conceded ;  ^ 
the  latter  was  used  by  Roman  writers  to  designate  only  a 
specific  tribe  of  northern  invaders,  and  the  former  is  not 
met  with  until  the  ninth  century  after  Christ.  Most  mod- 
ern scholars  agree,  however,  that  the  two  words  were  de- 
rived from  a  common  root,  thiod,  meaning  "  people,"  which 
appears  in  Gothic,  Anglo-Saxon,  and  other  comparatively 
early  German  languages. 

The  earliest  historical  source  of  information  about  these 
peoples  is  the  few  extant  fragments  of  Pytheas  of  Mar- 
seilles. His  native  city  had  been  established  about  six  hun- 
dred years  before  Christ  as  a  Greek  colony  and  had  early 
taken  much  of  the  northern  trade  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
rival  Phoenicians  and  Etruscans.  Marseilles  may  or  may 
not  have  had  intercourse  in  that  early  period  with  peoples 
north  of  the  Rhine.  Pytheas  himself  was  an  astronomer 
and  a  traveler  who  resided  at  Marseilles,  probably  about 
the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great  or  shortly  afterwards,  and 
wrote  accounts  of  his  travels  in  Greek.  The  original  is 
lost  but  a  few  fragments  are  preserved,  chiefly  in  the  geo- 
graphy of  Strabo,  ^  in  the  natural  history  of  the  Elder 
Pliny,*  and  in  the  dry  lexicographical  work  of  Stephanus 

1  G.  Waitz,  Deutsche  Verfassungsgeschichte,  3rd  ed.  (Berlin,  1880), 
vol.  i,  p.  11;  F.  Dahn,  Urgeschichte  der  germanischen  und  romanischen 
Vdlker  (Berlin,  1881),  vol.  i,  p.  18.  The  Old  High  German  adjective, 
diutisk — "  pertaining  to  the  people," — which  was  written  theodiscus  in 
the  Latin  of  the  ninth  century,  became  the  diutsch  or  tiutsch  of  Middle 
High  German,  and  the  deutsch  of  Modern  German. 

2  Strabo  was  a  contemporary  of  Augustus  (see  infra,  p.  41).  He  dis- 
trusted Pytheas,  even  going  so  far  as  to  dub  him  a  liar  {avr)p  pv- 
itaraToq).  The  moderns,  however,  have  usually  taken  Pytheas  quite 
seriously.  See  R.  Pallmann,  Die  Cimbern  und  Teutonen,  ein  Beitrag 
zur  altdeutschen  Geschichte  und  zur  deutschen  Alterthumskunde  (Ber- 
lin, 1870). 

8  Died  79  A.  D.    See  infra,  p.  44. 


1 8  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [424 

of  Byzantium/  From  what  we  have,^  we  judge  that 
Pytheas  took  two  voyages,  one  to  Britain  and  to  a  land  six 
days'  sail  from  thence  which  he  calls  Thule,  where  the  day 
and  the  night  were  each  six  months  long,  and  another  along 
the  coast  of  Europe  from  Gadira  '  to  the  Tanais  river.* 
His  references  to  the  peoples  whom  he  saw  are  so  scanty 
as  to  be  practically  negligible. 

1  Stephanus  lived  after  the  time  of  Arcadius  and  before  that  of 
Justinian  II.  The  best  edition  of  his  extant  writings  is  by  A.  Meineke 
(Berlin,  1849).  See  J.  Geffcken,  De  Stephana  Byzantio  (Gottingen, 
1886).  A  few  other  quotations  from  Pytheas  are  to  be  found  in  the 
fragments  of  Eratosthenes  (276-196  B.  C),  a  member  of  the  Alexan- 
drian school,  who  acquired  fame  as  an  astronomer  and  is  credited  with 
having  been  one  of  the  first  to  produce  a  systematic  treatise  on  geog- 
raphy. For  the  fragments  of  the  writings  of  Eratosthenes  see  H. 
Berger,  Die  geographischen  Fragmente  des  Eratosthenes  (Leipzig, 
1880). 

2  The  extant  fragments  of  Pytheas's  work,  nspt  a;);cm'ot),  have  been 
collected  and  edited  by  Schmekel,  Pytheae  Massiliensis  quae  super- 
sunt  fragmenta  (Merseburg,  1848). 

8  Cadiz. 

*  Some  contend  that  this  is  the  Don ;  others  favor  the  Elbe.  But 
whether  Pytheas  described  the  Mediterranean  coast  or  that  of  the 
Atlantic  matters  little  to  us;  his  description  is  lost. 


CHAPTER  II 

Plutarch 

It  is  commonly  alleged  that  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones, 
who  appeared  in  Gaul  in  114  B.  C,  plundered  that  country 
and  Spain  likewise,  who  defeated  in  turn  five  Roman  armies 
sent  against  them,  and  were  at  length  annihilated  by  Marius 
in  loi  B.  C,  were  the  first  Germans  to  come  into  conflict 
with  Rome.^  If  we  rely  exclusively  on  the  sources,'^  how- 
ever, we  cannot  be  certain  that  they  were  Germans.  Most 
of  our  information  on  the  matter  is  contained  in  the  bio- 
graphy of  Marius  by  Plutarch,  who  wrote  approximately 
two  hundred  years  after  the  events  he  narrates. 

Plutarch  was  born  at  the  town  of  Chaeronea  in  Boeotia 
probably  between  A.  D,  45  and  50.  He  studied  at  Athens 
and  at  Alexandria,  and  for  a  time  lectured  at  Rome  on 
philosophy  and  rhetoric.  He  taught  the  future  emperor 
Hadrian  and  was  admitted  to  consular  rank  by  Trajan.  In 
his  old  age  he  was  appointed  procurator  of  Greece,  and  died 
about  A.  D.  120  in  his  native  town  where  he  had  long  been 
an  archon  and  a  priest  of  the  Pythian  Apollo.  Plutarch 
wrote  his  charming  and  justly-famed  parallel  biographies 
of  distinguished  Greeks  and  Latins  ^  for  edification  rather 

1  Cf.  G.  Bloch,  La  Gaule  independante  et  la  Gaule  romaine  in  E. 
Lavisse,  ed.  Histoire  de  France,  vol.  i  (Paris,  1900). 

2  The  sources  on  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones  are  in  general  frag- 
mentary and  scattered  through  various  writers.  Johann  Miiller,  Bel- 
lum  Cimbricum  ( Schaffhausen,  1772)  brought  together  two  hundred 
and  fourteen  references  of  the  ancients  to  the  Cimbri,  and  twenty 
others  were  added  in  a  revision  (1805). 

8  Probably  begun  at  Rome  during  the  reign  of  Trajan,  and  com- 
425]  19 


20  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [426 

than  for  historical  truth;  his  main  object  was  to  present 
distinct  character  sketches.  It  has  been  conceded  that  he 
showed  little  critical  insight  in  the  use  of  his  authorities  and 
that  his  work  abounds  in  manifold  inaccuracies  and  mis- 
takes, yet  in  the  absence  of  other  material  we  are  tempted 
to  accept  the  moralizings  of  this  Greek  rhetorician  as  au- 
thentic, if  not  inspired,  historical  data. 

Plutarch  spoke  and  wrote  in  Greek,  and  lamented  a 
limited  knowledge  of  Latin,  which  may  account  for  some 
of  the  inaccuracies  in  the  Lives.  He  mentions  incidentally 
that  he  had  seen  the  bust  or  statue  of  Marius  at  Ravenna, 
but  that  is  all  we  know  about  his  travel  in  Italy,  and  there 
is  no  mention  whatsoever  of  his  having  been  in  Gaul.  In 
one  way  or  another,  however,  he  used  several  earlier  works  ^ 
in  writing  the  biography  of  Marius.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  his  unfavorable  criticisms  of  the  old  general  were  quite 
possibly  taken  from  Sulla's  memoirs  ^  and  the  apology  of 
Catulus,^  both  of  which  are  now  unfortunately  lost.  On 
the  general  conditions  of  the  times,  Plutarch  had  Sallust,* 

pleted  and  published  late  in  life  at  Chaeronea.  The  best  text  of  the 
Bioi  UapaXXfjloi  is  that  of  C  Sintenis  in  the  Teubner  series,  5  vols. 
(Leipzig,  1875-84).  There  is  an  English  translation  in  the  Bohn  Clas- 
sical Library  by  A.  Stewart  and  G.  Long,  4  vols.  (London,  1900).  See 
R.  C.  Trench,  A  Popular  Introduction  to  Plutarch  (London,  1873). 

1  See  H.  Peter,  Die  geschichtliche  Literatur  Uber  die  romische  Kaiser- 
zeit  bis  Theodosius  I  und  ihre  Quellen,  2  vols.  (Leipzig,  1897). 

2  Lucius  Sulla  (138-78  B.  C),  the  aristocratic  dictator  and  life-long 
rival  of  Marius,  wrote  a  history  of  his  own  life  and  times  in  twenty- 
two  books,  which  he  called  the  Memorabilia.  See  A.  H.  Beesly,  The 
Gracchi,  Marius  and  Sulla  (New  York,  1892). 

3  Catulus  was  proconsul  and  joint  commander  with  Marius  in  the 
battle  against  the  Cimbri. 

*  Sallust  (86-34  B.  C.)  wrote  an  account  of  the  expedition  of  Marius 
against  Jugurtha,  and  from  fragments  we  gather  that  he  wrote  five 
books  on  the  civil  wars  between  Marius  and  Sulla,  the  introduction  to 
which  may  have  dealt  with  the  Gallic  campaign  of  Marius.     Judging 


427]  PLUTARCH  21 

Livy  ^  and  Posidonius.  The  last  named  was  the  most  im- 
portant. A  celebrated  astronomer  and  Stoic  philosopher 
at  Rhodes,  an  instructor  of  Pompey  and  of  Cicero,  he  con- 
tinued the  history  of  Polybius  from  the  point  where  that 
work  broke  oflf  (146  B.  C.)  down  to  his  own  times.  Al- 
though his  history  is  lost,  we  know  that  Posidonius  ^  not 
only  had,  as  an  envoy  from  Rhodes,  interviewed  Marius  but 
had  also  been  in  Gaul  and  knew  the  Celts. 

Thus  a  Greek  moralist  who  knew  Latin  imperfectly  and 
had  probably  never  traveled  in  Gaul,  prepared  an  edifying 
character  sketch  of  a  Roman  general  who  incidentally  had 
fought  some  peoples  in  Gaul  two  centuries  previously,  rely- 

from  what  we  know  of  Sallust  as  an  historian,  we  cannot  believe  that 
if  he  did  write  about  the  troubles  in  Gaul,  his  observations  would 
have  been  precise  or  profound.  The  fragments  are  edited  by  B.  Maur- 
enbrecher,  2  vols.  (Leipzig,  1891-3).  There  is  a  good  English  trans- 
lation by  Pollard  (1882). 

1  Livy  (59  B.  C.-17  A.  D.),  who  undertook  to  write  not  a  critical 
history  but  a  lively  narrative  to  rekindle  a  patriotic  spirit  among  his 
countrymen,  may  best  be  regarded  as  a  remarkable  story-teller  with 
excellent  diction  but  with  slight  attention  to  fact.  Practically  the 
whole  history  after  167  B.  C.  is  lost.  There  is  a  translation  into  Eliza- 
bethan English  by  Philemon  Holland  (London,  1600),  and  of  books 
xxi-xxv  into  modern  English  by  Church  &  Brodribb  (2nd  ed.,  London, 
1890). 

2  Strabo  and  Appian  likewise  used  Posidonius.  Important  frag- 
ments of  the  work  are  preserved  by  Athenaeus  (170-230  A.  D.),  a 
Greek  scholar  of  Alexandria  and  Rome,  in  a  curious  miscellany  called 
Aeinvooo<l>iaTai  or  The  Banquet  of  the  Learned,  edited  by  G.  Kaibel  in 
the  Teubner  series  (Leipzig,  1887).  There  is  a  literal  English  trans- 
lation by  C.  D.  Yonge  in  the  Bohn  Classical  Library,  3  vols.  (London, 
1854).  The  extant  fragments  of  Posidonius  were  collected  and  edited 
by  Bake  (Leyden,  1810).  Posidonius  was  used  by  Justin,  a  Latin  his- 
torian who  is  generally  supposed  to  have  flourished  in  the  age  of  the 
Antonines  and  who  epitomized  the  general  history  of  Trogus  Pompeius ; 
Justin  is  edited  by  J.  Jeep  in  the  Teubner  texts  (Leipzig,  1886)  and 
translated  into  English  by  J.  S.  Watson  in  the  Bohn  Classical  Library 
(London,  1876). 


22  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [428 

ing  for  the  truth  of  his  adventitious  remarks  on  works  the 
most  of  which, — the  reminiscences  of  our  general's  politi- 
cal and  military  rivals,  the  histories  of  a  Roman  politician, 
and  of  a  Roman  story-teller,  and  last  but  not  least  the 
statements  of  a  man  of  Rhodes  who  had  actually  had  a 
look  at  Gaul, — are  now  lost  and  are  consequently  beyond 
our  power  to  verify.  These  adventitious  remarks  on  the 
Gallic  campaign  of  Marius  comprise  almost  all  we  know 
about  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones!  This  is  what  Plutarch 
says  of  them :  ^ 

.  .  .  It  happened  that  the  Romans  had  just  received  intel- 
ligence of  the  capture  of  Jugurtha  when  the  reports  about  the 
Cimbri  and  Teutones  surprised  them,  and  though  the  rumors 
as  to  the  numbers  and  strength  of  the  invaders  were  at  first 
disbelieved,  it  afterwards  appeared  that  they  fell  short  of  the 
truth.  Three  hundred  thousand  armed  fighting  men  were 
advancing,  bringing  with  them  a  much  larger  number  of  women 
and  children,  in  quest  of  land  to  support  so  mighty  a  multitude 
and  of  cities  to  dwell  in,  after  the  example  of  the  Celtae  before 
them,^  who  took  the  best  part  of  Italy  from  the  Tyrrheni  and 
kept  it. 

As  these  invaders  had  no  intercourse  with  other  nations,  and 
had  traversed  an  extensive  tract  of  country,  it  could  not  be 
ascertained  who  they  were  or  where  they  issued  from  to  de- 
scend upon  Gaul  and  Italy  like  a  cloud.  The  most  probable 
conjecture  was  that  they  were  Germanic  nations  belonging  to 
those  who  extended  as  far  as  the  northern  ocean;  and  this 
opinion  was  founded  on  their  great  stature,  their  blue  eyes, 
and  on  the  fact  that  the  Germans  designate  robbers  by  the 
name  of  Cimbri. 

1  English  translation  by  A.  Stewart  &  G.  Long  in  the  Bohn  Qassical 
Library  (London,  1900). 

2  The  invasion  of  northern  Italy  by  the  Celtae  is  mentioned  by  Livy 
(Bk.  V,  ch.  34)  and  referred  by  him  to  the  reign  of  Tarquinius  Priscus. 


429]  PLUTARCH  23 

Others  thought  that  Cehica  extended  in  a  wide  and  exten- 
sive tract  from  the  external  sea  and  the  subarctic  regions  to 
the  rising  sun  and  the  Lake  Maeotis  ^  where  it  bordered  on 
Pontic  Scythia ;  and  it  was  from  this  region,  as  they  supposed, 
where  the  tribes  are  mingled,  that  these  invaders  came,  and 
that  they  did  not  advance  in  one  expedition  nor  yet  uninter- 
ruptedly, but  that  every  spring  they  moved  forwards,  fighting 
their  way,  till  in  the  course  of  time  they  traversed  the  whole 
continent.  Accordingly  while  the  barbarians  had  several  names 
according  to  their  respective  tribes,  they  designated  the  whole 
body  by  the  name  of  Celtoscythians. 

But  others  say  that  the  Cimmerians,  with  whom  the  ancient 
Greeks  were  first  acquainted,  were  no  portion  of  the  whole 
nation,  but  merely  a  tribe  or  faction  that  was  driven  out  by  the 
Scythians  and  passed  into  Asia  from  the  Lake  Maeotis,  under 
the  command  of  Lygdamis :  they  further  say  that  the  chief  part 
of  the  Scythian  nation  and  the  most  warlike  part  lived  at  the 
very  verge  of  the  continent,  on  the  coast  of  the  external  sea,  in 
a  tract  shaded,  woody,  and  totally  sunless,  owing  to  the  extent 
and  closeness  of  the  forests,  which  reach  into  the  interior  as 
far  as  the  Hercynii;  and  with  respect  to  the  heavens,  their 
position  was  in  that  region  where  the  pole,  having  a  great  eleva* 
tion  owing  to  the  inclination  of  the  parallels,  appears  to  be  only 
a  short  distance  from  the  spectator's  zenith,  and  the  days  and 
nights  are  of  equal  length  and  share  the  year  between  them, 
which  furnished  Homer  with  the  occasion  for  his  story  of 
Ulysses  visiting  the  ghosts.^  From  these  parts  then  some  sup- 
posed that  these  barbarians  came  against  Italy,  who  were 
originally  Cimmerii,  but  then  not  inappropriately  called  Cimbri. 
But  all  this  is  rather  founded  on  conjecture  than  on  sure 
historical  evidence,' 

The  importance  of  identifying  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones 

1  Sea  of  Azov.  *  Odyssey,  bk.  xi,  v.  14  et  seq. 

«  Ch.  n. 


24  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [430 

with  the  Germans  was  not  so  clear  to  the  Romans  as  to  cer- 
tain modern  German  scholars.  Plutarch  himself  was  not 
a  man  of  conviction  in  the  matter.  These  peoples  migKt  be 
Germans — they  had  great  stature  and  blue  eyes !  But  again 
they  might  be  Celts,  for  Celtica  could  extend,  so  far  as  the 
Greek  philosopher  was  concerned,  from  Gaul  throughout 
northern  Europe  and  well  into  Asia  "  where  the  tribes  are 
mingled."  And  peradventure,  they  were  neither  Germans 
nor  Celts,  but  a  lost  tribe  of  the  Cimmerians,  the  ancient 
enemies  of  the  Hellenes. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  very  words  "  Cimbri  "  and 
"  Teutones  "  ^  are  German ;  they  may  be  merely  Gallic. 
Various  Greek  authors,  whom  Diodorus  of  Sicily  *  quotes 
without  naming  them,  thought  the  Cimbri  were  Cimmerians, 
the  people  at  that  time  living  north  of  the  Black  Sea, 
whose  name  has  been  preserved  in  the  Crimea.  Cicero  in 
55  B.  C.  thought  the  Cimbri  were  Gauls.'     This  identifica- 

^  The  word  "Teutones,"  as  we  have  already  seen,  may  have  been 
derived  from  some  popular  Germanic  appellation  such  as  thiod, 
meaning  "  people."  If  so,  it  may  be  reasoned  that  this  particular 
tribe  spoke  a  Germanic  language  and  came  perhaps  from  far-away 
Scandinavia;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  also  be  reasoned  that  a 
Gallic  tribe  was  designated  by  a  colloquialism  borrowed  from  their 
neighbors  across  the  Rhine  which  Roman  writers  heard  of  and  used. 
The  Roman  name  of  the  tribe  would  hardly  be  in  itself  convincing 
proof  of  the  tribe's  origin.  The  tribe  might  be  Teutonic  or  it  might 
be  Gallic. 

2  A  contemporary  of  Julius  Caesar  and  of  Augustus,  who  published 
a  general  history  in  thirty  books  from  earliest  times  to  the  end  of 
Caesar's  Gallic  war.  The  extant  fragments  are  edited  by  L.  Dindorf, 
5  vols.  (Leipzig,  1867-8). 

3  "  .Even  that  great  man,  Caius  Marius,  whose  amazing  divine  valor 
came  to  the  assistance  of  the  Roman  people  in  many  of  its  distresses 
and  disasters,  was  content  to  check  the  enormous  multitudes  of  Gauls 
who  were  forcing  their  way  into  Italy,  without  endeavoring  himself  to 
penetrate  into  their  cities  and  homes." — Oration  on  the  Consular  Pro- 
vinces, ch.  13. 


43 1 ]  PLUTARCH  25 

tion  of  the  Cimbri  with  the  Cimmerians  and  likewise  with 
the  Gauls  produced  a  curious  result  in  the  Jewish  Antiqui- 
ties of  Josephus/  a  work  completed  as  late  as  93  A.  D., 
after  Caesar  and  others  had  popularized  the  distinction 
between  Gauls  and  Germans.  Josephus  says  that  Japhet, 
son  of  Noah,  had  seven  sons,  one  of  whom  was  Gomares, 
the  progenitor  of  the  Gomareis  whom  the  Greeks  called 
Galates  and  who  were  otherwise  variously  known  as  Gauls 
and  as  Cimmerians.^  In  view  of  these  facts,  we  shall  do 
well  to  accept  as  inspired  the  illuminating  remark  with  which 
Plutarch  concludes  his  three  theories  of  the  origin  of  the 
invaders,  "  all  this  is  rather  founded  on  conjecture  than  on 
sure  historical  evidence." 

Plutarch  has  little  to  say  of  the  institutions  and  customs  of 
the  Cimbri  and  Teutones  which  can  help  us  in  a  study  of 
the  Germanic  invasions.  The  military  events  absorb  his 
interest,  although  his  accounts  of  the  barbarian  movements 
are  most  confusing.  The  invaders  do  not  appear  to  have 
been  very  different  from  many  others  with  whom  the  Ro- 
mans fought: 

As  to  their  numbers,  they  are  stated  by  many  authorities  as 
above  rather  than  below  what  has  been  mentioned.  But  their 
courage  and  daring  made  them  irresistible,  and  in  battle  they 
rushed  forward  with  the  rapidity  and  violence  of  fire,  so  that 
no  nations  could  stand  their  attack,  but  all  the  people  that 
came  in  their  way  became  their  prey  and  booty,  and  many 
powerful  Roman  armies  with  their  commanders,  which  were 

1  Bk.  i,  ch.  6.  The  works  of  Josephus  have  been  edited  by  B.  Niese, 
5  vols.  (Berlin,  1885-95)   and  translated  into  English  by  W.  Whiston. 

2  The  theory  of  Josephus  received  the  strong  condemnation  of 
Jerome,  In  Ezechielem.  It  seems,  however,  that  no  statement  of  an 
ancient  is  too  preposterous  for  a  modern  to  believe.  Amedee  Thierry 
in  his  Histoire  des  Gaulois  (loth  ed.,  Paris,  1881)  has  approved  the 
supposition  of  Josephus! 


26  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [432 

stationed  to  protect  Gaul  north  of  the  Alps,  perished  inglor- 
iously ;  ^  and  indeed  these  armies  by  their  unsuccessful  resist- 
ance mainly  contributed  to  direct  the  course  of  the  enemy 
against  Rome.  For  when  they  had  defeated  those  who  opposed 
them  and  got  an  abundance  of  booty,  they  determined  not  to 
settle  themselves  permanently  anywhere  till  they  had  destroyed 
Rome  and  ravaged  Italy. ^ 

.  .  .  [Marius  led  an  army  into  Gaul  against  the  Teutones, 
who]  made  their  appearance  in  numbers  countless,  hideous  in 
aspect,  and  in  language  and  the  cries  they  uttered  unlike  any 
other  people.^  .  .  .  The  daily  sight  of  them  not  only  took 
away  somewhat  of  the  first  alarm,  but  the  threats  of  the 
barbarians  and  their  intolerable  arrogance  roused  the  courage 
of  the  Roman  soldiers  and  inflamed  their  passicMis,  for  the 
enemy  plundered  and  devastated  all  the  country  around  * 
.  .  .  [In  battle]  though  full  of  food  and  excited  with  wine, 
they  did  not  advance  in  disorderly  or  frantic  haste,  nor  utter 
confused  shouts,  but  striking  their  arms  to  a  certain  measure, 
and  advancing  all  in  regular  line,  they  often  called  out  their 
name,  Ambrones,"^  either  to  encourage  one  another  or  to  terrify 
the  Romans  by  this  announcement  ®     .     .     . 

In  the  pursuit  [of  the  Teutones  after  the  first  battle],  the 

1  Cn.  Papirius  Carbo,  one  of  the  consuls  for  the  year  113  B.  C,  was 
defeated  by  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones  in  Illyricum;  in  109  B.  C.  the 
consul  M.  Junius  Silanus  was  defeated  by  the  Cimbri,  who  in  vain  de- 
manded settlements  of  the  Roman  senate;  in  107  B.  C.,  while  Marius 
was  fighting  Jugurtha,  the  consul  L.  Cassius  Longinus  was  killed  in 
battle  with  the  Gallic  Tigurini  and  his  army  surrendered;  two  years 
later  the  consul  Cn.  Manlius  Maximus  and  the  proconsul  Q.  Servilius 
Caepio  were  defeated  by  the  Cimbri  with  great  loss. 

2Ch.  II.  8Ch.  15.  *Ch.  16. 

"^  Plutarch  mentions  Ligurians  in  the  army  of  Marius  who  were 
called  Ambrones.  The  Ligurians  were  not  Germans,  and  if  these  Am- 
brones  among  the  barbarians  were  of  the  same  people  as  the  Ligurian 
Ambrones  with  Marius,  then  it  is  certain  that  at  least  a  part  of  the 
invaders  were  non-Germans. 

«Ch.  19. 


433]  PLUTARCH  27 

Romans  took  prisoners  and  killed  to  the  number  of  about 
100,000;  they  also  took  their  tents,  wagons  and  property,  all 
which,  with  the  exception  of  what  was  pilfered,  was  given  to 
Marius,  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  soldiers.  .  .  .  Some 
authorities  do  not  agree  with  the  statement  as  to  the  gift  of 
the  spoil,  nor  yet  about  the  number  of  the  slain.^  However, 
they  say  that  the  people  of  Marseilles  made  fences  round  their 
vineyards  with  the  bones,  and  that  the  soil,  after  the  bodies 
had  rotted  and  the  winter  rains  had  fallen,  was  so  fertilized 
and  saturated  with  the  putrified  matter  which  sank  down  into 
it,  that  it  produced  a  most  unusual  crop  in  the  next  season,  and 
so  confirmed  the  opinion  of  Archilochus  ^  that  the  land  is  fat- 
tened by  human  bodies.'  .  .  .  [Marius  held  the  kings  of  the 
Teutones]  in  chains,  for  they  were  taken  in  the  Alps  in  their 
flight  by  the  Sequani.*     .     .     . 

[Meanwhile,  the  Cimbri  crossed  the  Alps  and]  attacked  and 
took  the  fort  on  the  farther  side  of  the  Adige,  though  the 
Roman  soldiers  defended  it  with  the  utmost  bravery  and  in  a 
manner  worthy  of  their  country.  Admiring  their  courage,  the 
barbarians  let  them  go  on  conditions  which  were  sworn  to 
upon  the  brazen  bull,  which  was  taken  after  the  battle,  and,  it 
is  said,  was  conveyed  to  the  house  of  Catulus  as  the  first  spoils 
of  the  victory."^  .  .  .  They  sent  to  Marius  to  demand  land 
for  themselves  and  their  brethren,  and  a  sufficient  number  of 
cities  for  their  abode.  On  Marius  asking  the  ambassadors  of 
the  Cimbri  whom  they  meant  by  their  brethren,  and  being  told 
they  were  the  Teutones,  all  the  Romans  who  were  present 
burst  out  into  a  laugh,  but  Marius,  with  a  sneer,  replied, 
"  Don't  trouble  yourselves  about  your  brethren :  they  have 
land,  and  they  shall  have  it  forever,  for  we  have  given  it 
to  them."  «... 

^Velleius  Paterculus  (ii,  12)   makes  the  number  of  barbarians  who 
fell  in  the  two  battles  over  150,000. 

'  A  Greek  lyric  poet  who  lived  in  the  seventh  century  B.  C 

» Ch.  21.  *  Ch.  24  » Ch.  23.  •  Ch.  24. 


28  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [434 

[The  Cimbri  then  prepared  to  join  battle  with  the  combined 
armies  of  Marius  and  Catulus.]  Their  infantry  marched 
slowly  from  their  fortified  posts  in  a  square,  each  side  of 
which  was  thirty  stadia;  the  cavalry,  15,000  in  number,  ad- 
vanced in  splendid  style,  wearing  helmets  which  resembled 
in  form  the  open  mouths  of  frightful  beasts  and  strange  shaped 
heads  surmounted  by  lofty  crests  of  feathers,  which  made 
them  appear  taller;  they  had  also  breastplates  of  iron  and 
glittering  white  shields.  Their  practice  was  to  discharge  two 
darts,  and  then  closing  with  the  enemy,  to  use  their  large  heavy 
swords.^  ...  It  happened  that  the  barbarians  closed  with 
Catulus,  and  the  struggle  was  with  him  and  his  soldiers  chiefly, 
among  whom  Sulla  says  that  he  himself  fought:  he  adds 
that  the  heat  aided  the  Romans,  and  the  sun,  which  shone  full 
in  the  face  of  the  Cimbri.  For  the  barbarians  were  well 
inured  to  cold,  having  been  brought  up  in  forests,  as  already 
observed,  and  a  cool  country,  but  they  were  unnerved  with 
the  heat,  which  made  them  sweat  violently  and  breathe  hard, 
and  put  their  shields  before  their  faces,  for  the  battle  took 
place  after  the  summer  solstice,  and,  according  to  the  Roman 
reckoning,  three  days  before  the  new  moon  of  the  month  now 
called  August  but  then  Sextilis.^  .  .  .  Now  the  greater 
part  of  the  enemy  and  their  best  soldiers  were  cut  to  pieces 
in  their  ranks,  for  in  order  to  prevent  the  line  from  being 
broken  the  soldiers  of  the  first  rank  were  fastened  together 
by  long  chains  which  were  passed  through  their  belts.  The 
fugitives  were  driven  back  to  their  encampments,  when  a  most 
tragic  scene  was  exhibited.  The  women  standing  on  the 
wagons  clothed  in  black  massacred  the  fugitives,  some  their 
husbands,  and  others  their  brothers  and  fathers,  and  then 
strangling  their  infants  they  threw  them  under  the  wheels  and 
the  feet  of  the  beasts  of  burden,  and  killed  themselves.  .  .  . 
But  though  so  many  perished  in  this  manner,  above  60,000 
were  taken  prisoners,  and  the  number  of  those  who  fell  was 
said  to  be  twice  as  many     .     .     .* 

1  Ch.  25.  2  ch.  26.  •  Ch.  27. 


435]  PLUTARCH  29 

This  is  most  of  what  we  know  about  the  Cimbri  and  Teu- 
tones.  The  fate  of  the  survivors  is  neglected;  Plutarch 
must  decide  the  dispute  as  to  whether  Marius  or  Catulus 
deserved  the  credit  for  the  victory.  He  was  not  writing 
an  account  of  barbarian  invasions;  he  was  preparing  an 
edifying  biography  of  Marius. 


CHAPTER  III 
Caesar 

No  evidence  has  come  down  to  us  that  prior  to  the  open- 
ing of  the  first  century  before  Christ  the  Romans  had  any 
clear  ideas  about  the  Germans  or  about  the  peoples  in  Gaul/ 
It  was,  in  fact,  at  least  fifty  years  after  the  appearance  of 
the  Cimbri  and  Teutones,  before  any  source  distinguished 
Germans  from  Gauls. 

The  man  who  did  the  most  in  all  probability  to  vulgarize 
this  distinction  was  Julius  Caesar,  who,  as  political  and 
military  head  of  Gaul  for  several  years,  knew  the  country 
and  the  people  at  first  hand,  saw  Germans  and  heard  some- 
thing about  their  customs,  and  about  51  B.  C.  committed  to 
writing  an  account  of  his  experiences  and  observations.^ 
As  Cicero  says : 

Caesar  thought  it  his  duty  not  only  to  war  against  those  men 
whom  he  saw  already  in  arms  against  the  Roman  people  but 
to  reduce  the  whole  of  Gaul  under  our  dominion.  He  ac- 
cordingly fought  with  the  greatest  success  against  most 
valiant  and  powerful  tribes,   Germans  and  Helvetians;  and 

^  See  J.  Cramer,  Die  Verfassungsgeschichte  der  Germanen  und 
Kelten  (Berlin,  1906),  and  M.  H.  d'Arbois  de  Jubainville,  Les  Celtes 
depuis  les  temps  les  plus  anciens  jusqu'en  100  avant  notre  ere  (Paris, 
1904). 

2  Seven  Books  of  Commentaries  on  the  Gallic  War.  The  edition  in 
the  Teubner  series  is  by  B.  Dinter  (Leipzig,  1890).  There  is  an  Eng- 
lish translation,  needlessly  involved  in  style,  by  W.  A.  McDevitte  in 
the  Bohn  Classical  Library.  See  T.  R.  Holmes,  Caesar's  Conquest  of 
Gaul  (London,  1899). 

30  [436 


437]  ^^^^^  31 

other  tribes  he  alarmed  and  drove  back  and  defeated  and  ac- 
customed to  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  people ; 
so  that  those  districts  and  those  tribes  which  were  previously 
unknown  to  us  by  anyone's  letters  or  through  a  personal  ac- 
count of  anyone,  or  even  by  vague  report,  have  now  been 
traversed  by  our  own  general,  by  our  own  army,  and  by  the 
arms  of  the  Roman  people.^ 

Caesar  was  certainly  in  a  position  to  know  a  good  deal 
about  Gaul  and  he  has  been  generally  credited  with  insight 
into  Celtic  institutions  and  customs.^  He,  moreover,  dis- 
tinguished them  from  the  Germanic: 

.  .  .  It  does  not  appear  to  be  foreign  to  our  subject  to  lay 
before  the  reader  an  account  of  the  customs  of  Gaul  and  of 
Germany,  and  wherein  these  tribes  differ  from  each  other,  [In 
Gaul  there  is  bitter  factional  feeling;  the  mass  of  the  people 
are  serfs  and  have  no  part  in  politics;  the  privileged  classes 
are  the  Druid  priests  and  the  free  knights;  the  Celts  are 
especially  superstitious,  though  they  have  a  rather  well-de- 
veloped legal  system].^  The  customs  of  the  Germans  differ 
much  from  the  Gauls,  for  neither  have  they  Druids  to  preside 
over  religious  services  nor  do  they  care  much  for  sacrifices. 
They  count  among  the  number  of  the  gods  those  alone  whom 
they  behold,  and  by  whose  instrumentality  they  are  obviously 
benefited:  namely,  the  Sun,  Vulcan,  and  the  Moon;  of  the 
other  deities  they  have  never  even  heard.  Their  whole  life 
is  occupied  in  hunting  and  in  military  pursuits;  from  child- 
hood they  devote  themselves  to  hardships  and  fatigue.  Those 
who  have  remained  chaste  for  the  longest  time,  receive  the 
greatest  commendation  among  their  people.  .  .  They  do 
not  pay  much  attention  to  agriculture,  and  a  large  part  of  their 

1  Cicero,   Oration  on  the   Consular  Provinces,  ch.    13,   delivered  55 
B.  C. 

2  See  C.  Julian,  Histoire  de  la  Gaule,  vol.  ii,  La  Gaule  independante 
(Paris,  1908). 

3  Summary  of  chapters  11-20  of  bk.  vi. 


32  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [438 

food  consists  of  milk,  cheese  and  flesh;  nor  does  anyone 
possess  a  fixed  piece  of  land  as  his  own  property,  with  fixed 
boundaries,  but  the  magistrates  and  chiefs  assign  every  year 
to  the  tribes  and  families,  who  have  assembled  together,  as 
much  land  as  they  please  in  any  locality  they  see  fit,  and  on 
the  following  year  compel  them  to  move  elsewhere.  .  .  . 
It  is  the  greatest  glory  to  the  several  tribes  to  lay  waste  the 
borders  of  their  territory  as  great  a  distance  as  possible  and 
make  them  uninhabitable.  .  .  .  Both  in  defensive  and  in 
offensive  war,  leaders  are  chosen  and  given  even  power  of 
life  and  death.  In  peace  there  is  no  common  ruler,  but  the 
chiefs  of  the  districts  and  cantons  administer  justice  and  settle 
controversies  among  their  own  people.  Robbery  committed 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  a  tribe  bears  no  infamy,  and  they 
avow  that  it  is  committed  for  the  purpose  of  disciplining  their 
youth  and  of  preventing  sloth.  And  when  any  of  their  chiefs 
has  said  in  an  assembly  that  he  will  be  their  leader  in  a 
foray,  let  those  who  are  willing  to  follow  him  present  them- 
selves ;  they  who  approve  of  both  the  raid  and  the  man 
arise  and  promise  their  assistance,  and  are  applauded  by  the 
masses;  such  of  them  as  do  not  then  follow  him  are  con- 
sidered deserters  and  traitors,  and  thereafter  no  faith  what- 
ever is  placed  in  them.  To  injure  guests  they  hold  to  be  a 
crime ;  they  defend  from  wrong  those  who  have  come  to  them 
for  any  reason  whatever,  and  esteem  them  inviolable;  to  them 
the  houses  of  all  are  open  and  they  are  furnished  with  food. 

And  there  was  formerly  a  time  when  the  Gauls  excelled  the 
Germans  in  prowess,  and  waged  war  on  them  offensively,  and, 
on  account  of  the  great  number  of  their  people  and  the  in- 
sufficiency of  their  land,  sent  colonies  over  the  Rhine     .     .     .^ 

Such  are  the  salient  points  in  Caesar's  account  of  the  Ger- 
mans. They  have  been  taken  very  seriously  by  many 
scholars  and  have  supplied  the  first  foundation  for  the 
construction  of  monumental  works  on  the  economic  and 
political  institutions  of  the  Teutonic  peoples. 

1  vi,  21-24. 


439]  C^SAR  33 

The  question  immediately  arises,  how  did  Caesar  know 
the  Germans?  We  learn  that  he  had  some  Germans  in  his 
own  army:  he  would  be  likely  to  hear  something  about 
other  Germans  from  them.  We  know  too  that  he  had 
many  Germans  in  arms  against  him,  for  various  bands  were 
hired  by  this  or  that  faction  of  the  Gauls  to  fight  him,  and 
his  troubles  were  not  minimized  by  Ariovistus  or  by  the 
Suevi.  As  commander-in-chief  of  the  Roman  forces, 
Caesar  felt  the  necessity  of  studying  and  knowing  the  op- 
posing forces,  these  troublesome  tribesmen  whose  chronic 
instability  was  a  menace  to  the  commonwealth.  He  talked 
with  their  envoys  and  questioned  the  Celts  about  them.  He 
twice  crossed  the  Rhine,  but  the  longer  trip  lasted  but  eigh- 
teen days,  and  his  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  Germans  in 
their  own  home  must  have  been  very  limited.  It  may  be 
said,  in  fact,  that  Caesar  learned  almost  everything  he 
knew  about  the  Germans  not  in  their  country  but  in  his 
own  territory,  and  then  too,  chiefly  from  their  enemies. 
Practically  everything  he  had  to  accept  on  hearsay : 

Ambassadors  who  came  from  the  Aedui  said  in  complaint  that 
the  Harudes,  who  had  lately  been  brought  over  into  Gaul,  were 
ravaging  their  territories,  and  that  they  were  unable  to  buy 
peace  from  Ariovistus  even  through  hostages;  and  from  the 
Treviri,  that  a  hundred  cantons  of  the  Suevi  had  encamped  on 
the  banks  of  the  Rhine  and  were  attempting  to  cross  it.^ 

The  tribe  of  the  Suevi  is  by  far  the  largest  and  the  most 
warlike  tribe  of  all  the  Germans.  They  are  said  to  possess 
a  hundred  cantons,  from  each  of  which  they  yearly  send  from 
their  territories  for  the  purpose  of  war  a  thousand  armed 
men:  the  others  who  remain  at  home  maintain  both  them- 
selves and  those  engaged  in  the  expedition.  The  latter  again, 
in  their  turn,  are  in  arms  next  year:  the  former  remain  at 
home.     Thus  neither  husbandry  nor  the  art  and  practice  of 

*  i,  37. 


34  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [440 

war  are  neglected.  But  among  them  there  exists  no  private 
and  separate  land ;  nor  are  they  permitted  to  remain  more  than 
one  year  in  one  place  for  the  purpose  of  residence.  They 
do  not  live  much  on  corn,  but  subsist  for  the  most  part  on 
milk  and  flesh  and  are  much  given  to  hunting.^     .     .     . 

They  [the  Suevi]  esteem  it  their  greatest  praise  as  a  tribe 
that  the  lands  about  their  territories  lie  unoccupied  to  a  very 
great  extent  inasmuch  as  it  indicates  that  a  great  many  tribes 
cannot  withstand  their  power;  and  thus  on  one  side  of  the 
Suevi  the  lands  are  said  to  lie  desolate  for  about  six  hundred 
miles  2  .  .  .  The  Ubii  also,  who  alone,  out  of  all  the  tribes 
lying  beyond  the  Rhine,  had  sent  ambassadors  to  Caesar  and 
formed  an  alliance  and  given  hostages,  earnestly  entreated 
that  he  would  bring  them  assistance  because  they  were 
grievously  oppressed  by  the  Suevi ;  or,  if  he  was  prevented 
from  doing  so  by  the  business  of  the  commonwealth,  he  would 
at  least  transport  his  army  over  the  Rhine ;  that  that  would  be 
sufficient  for  their  present  assistance  and  their  hope  for  the 
future ;  that  so  great  was  the  name  and  reputation  of  his  army, 
even  among  the  most'  remote  tribes  of  the  Germans,  arising 
from  the  defeat  of  Ariovistus  and  this  last  battle  which  was 
fought,  that  they  might  be  safe  under  the  fame  and  friend- 
ship of  the  Roman  people.  They  promised  a  large  number 
of  boats  for  transporting  the  army.^ 

[After  crossing  the  Rhine  the  first  time,  Caesar]  learned 
from  the  Ubii  these  particulars,  that  the  Suevi,  after  they  had 
found  through  their  scouts  that  the  bridge  was  being  built,  had 
called  the  usual  council  and  issued  general  orders  to  remove 
the  women,  children,  and  property  from  the  towns  into  the 
woods  and  to  assemble  in  one  place  all  who  were  capable  of 
bearing  arms     .     .     .* 

Caesar  undoubtedly  made  it  a  point  to  obtain  the  most  trust- 

1  iv,  I.  "^  iv,  3.  8  iv,  16. 

*  iv,  19.  Another  example  is  furnished  in  vi,  10 :  Caesar  is  informed 
by  the  Ubii  concerning  the  movements  of  the  Suevi,  and  has  the 
former  send  spies  among  the  latter  to  report  to  him  about  them. 


^y^  t]  CJESAR  oc 

worthy  information,  but  he  got  it  from  Treviri  and  Ubii, 
who  were  being  threatened  by  the  Siievi  and  who  would 
naturally  stretch  the  truth  if  necessary  in  securing  Roman 
protection  against  their  northern  and  eastern  enemies.  The 
conditions  under  which  Caesar's  authorities  gave  him  in- 
formation are  not  conducive  to  our  faith  in  its  objectivity. 
Nor  is  it  probable  from  Caesar's  own  statement  that  the 
Treviri  and  the  Ubii  themselves  knew  a  great  deal  about 
the  Suevi.  A  few  merchants  passed  between  them/  and 
armed  bands  appeared  now  and  then.  Caesar  writes  of  the 
Germans  only  incidentally  and  always  vaguely:  he  says 
nothing  of  their  geography  and  little  of  their  political  or- 
ganization. Tacitus,  who  cites  him  about  the  Gauls,  does 
not  seem  to  take  him  seriously  about  the  Germans,  and  often 
contradicts  him.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  develop- 
ment in  Germany  in  the  century  and  a  half  which  inter- 
vened between  Caesar  and  Tacitus,  and  no  matter  how  little 
we  esteem  Tacitus,  we  must  express  the  conviction  that 
Caesar's  Commentaries  are  neither  obviously  authoritative 
nor  even  fully  reliable  as  a  source  on  the  Germans. 

In  a  passage  quoted  above,  Caesar  states  that  the  lands 
on  one  side  of  the  Suevi  "  are  said  to  lie  desolate  for  about 
six  hundred  miles."  That  would  be  as  far  as  from  Brus- 
sels to  Berlin !  Caesar  also  tells  ^  about  bisons,  unicorns 
and  other  strange  beasts  in  the  Hercynian  forest.  Those 
scholars  who  suspect  that  Caesar  was  misinformed  on  these 
points  should  remember  that  he  might  have  been  misin- 
formed on  others,  and  they  should  not  make  haste  to  build 
political  and  economic  systems  on  his  frankly  hearsay  testi- 
mony. 

1  That  merchants  were  few  may  be  inferred  from  the  account  of 
the  Suevi :  "  Merchants  have  access  to  them  more  because  they  want 
to  sell  what  they  have  taken  in  war  than  because  they  need  the  im- 
portation of  any  commodity."     iv,  2. 

3  vi,  25-28. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Historians  and  Geographers  of  the  Early  Principate 

The  wars  of  Augustus  and  Tiberius  against  the  Germans 
undoubtedly  stimulated  the  interest  of  the  Romans  in  the 
northern  barbarians.  We  know  at  least  of  two  works  on 
the  German  wars :  Quintilian  speaks  ^  of  the  libri  belli  Ger- 
manici  of  a  certain  Aufidius  Bassus,  whom  scholars  have 
arbitrarily  assigned  to  the  time  of  Tiberius;  and  the  Elder 
Pliny  (23-79  A.  D.)  wrote  a  history  of  the  Germanic  wars 
in  twenty  books.  We  know  nothing  of  the  life  of  Aufidius 
Bassus,  of  his  qualifications  as  an  historian,  of  his  accuracy 
or  of  his  importance.^  In  the  case  of  Pliny  we  know  ^  that 
he  was  commander  of  a  troop  of  cavalry  in  Germany  in  the 
time  of  Claudius  and  was  high  in  political  favor  with  Ves- 
pasian, being  a  provincial  governor  and  superintendent  of 
finances  in  Italy,  and  we  would  conclude  therefore  that 
Pliny  had  unusual  opportunity  for  knowing  the  Germans 
and  that  his  position  in  Roman  official  society  would  give 
his  statements  added  authority.  But  both  works  are  lost 
and  there  are  few  direct  allusions  to  either  by  later  writers. 

The  general  history  of  Livy  might  be  expected  to  supply 

1  Inst.  Orator.,  x,  i,  103. 

2  Quotations  from  Aufidius  Bassus  are  given  by  Seneca  Rhetor, 
Suasoriae,  vi,  18,  23 ;  and  it  has  been  repeatedly  affirmed  that  his  work 
was  used  by  Dio  Cassius  and  Suetonius. 

»  We  are  indebted  for  an  account  of  Pliny's  literary  labors  to  his 
nephew,  the  Younger  Pliny  {Eptst.,  iii,  S;  vi,  16).  That  Pliny  had  seen 
the  Germans  in  their  own  homes,  we  gather  from  the  Natural  History, 
xvi,  I,  2. 

36  .  [442 


443]  HISTORIANS  AND  GEOGRAPHERS  37 

some  interesting  if  unreliable  anecdotes  about  the  Germans, 
but  his  books  relating  to  that  subject  are  lost. 

Almost  our  only  available  contemporary  account  of  the 
Germanic  wars  of  this  early  period  of  the  principate  is  that 
of  Velleius  Paterculus  {cca.  19  B.  C.-A.  D.  31).  Velleius 
was  an  army  officer,  at  first  in  the  east  under  Gaius  Caesar, 
the  grandson  of  Augustus,  and  afterwards  in  Germany 
under  Tiberius.  For  his  enthusiastic  support  of  the  latter, 
he  was  rewarded  by  receiving  several  military  and  political 
promotions.  About  A.  D.  30,  he  prepared  a  succinct  com- 
pendium of  universal  history^  with  special  reference  to  Rome, 
beginning  with  the  settlement  of  Magna  Graecia.  Velleius 
was  quite  obsessed  by  the  idea  of  "essentials  in  history"  and 
selected  only  those  events  in  the  past  which  had  a  particular 
fascination  for  himself  and  which  he  thought  had  had  a 
paramount  influence  in  shaping  the  affairs  of  the  common- 
wealth, so  that  his  book  assumed  the  method  and  the  pur- 
pose of  the  "  Beacon  Lights  of  History."  The  selection 
is  naturally  arbitrary,  and  there  are  few  signs  of  critical 
insight.  On  his  own  times  Velleius  becomes  more  diffuse, 
but  his  fulsome  praise  of  Tiberius  has  detracted  from  his 
reputation  as  an  impartial  historian :  he  is  hardly  more 
than  a  partisan  memoir  writer.  His  own  account  of  his 
enlistment  with  Tiberius  is  suggestive: 

That  year  made  me  a  soldier  in  the  camp  of  Tiberius  Caesar, 
having  previously  held  the  office  of  tribune.     Shortly  after- 

*  Historiae  Romanae  ad  M.  Vinicium  Consuletn  Libri  Duo,  edited 
by  R.  Ellis  (Oxford,  1898),  translated  into  English  by  J.  S.  Watson 
in  the  Bohn  Classical  Library.  The  Teubner  edition  is  by  C.  Halm 
(Leipzig,  1876).  The  text  is  in  an  especially  unsatisfactory  condition; 
the  only  manuscript  which  survived  the  middle  ages  was  lost  in  the 
seventeenth  century  and  we  are  dependent  on  very  imperfect  copies. 
A  large  collection  of  the  historical  blunders  of  Velleius  is  given  by 
H.  Sauppe,  Ausgewdhlte  Schriften  (Berlin,  1896),  pp.  39-72.  See  P. 
Kaiser,  De  fontibus  Velleii  (Berlin,  1884). 


38  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [444 

wards,  being  sent  with  him  into  Germany  in  the  post  of 
commander  of  cavalry,  succeeding  my  father  in  that  office,  I 
was,  for  nine  successive  years,  either  as  prefect,  or  lieutenant- 
general,  a  spectator,  and,  as  far  as  the  mediocrity  of  my 
ability  allowed,  an  assistant  in  his  glorious  achievements.  Nor 
do  I  think  that  any  human  being  can  have  an  opportunity  of 
enjoying  another  spectacle  like  that  which  I  enjoyed,  when, 
throughout  the  most  populous  part  of  Italy,  and  the  whole 
length  of  the  Gallic  provinces,  the  people,  on  seeing  again  their 
former  commander,  who  was  a  Caesar  in  merit  and  power 
before  he  was  so  in  name,  congratulated  themselves  even  more 
warmly  than  they  congratulated  him.  At  the  very  sight  of 
him,  tears  of  joy  sprang  from  the  eyes  of  the  soldiers,  and 
there  appeared  in  their  salutation  an  unusual  degree  of  spirit, 
a  kind  of  exultation,  and  an  eager  wish  to  touch  his  hand. 
Nor  could  they  restrain  themselves  from  adding,  "  General, 
we  welcome  you ;"  or  again,  "  General,  I  was  with  you  in 
Armenia,"  "  I  in  Rhaetia,"  "  I  was  rewarded  by  you  in  Vin- 
deHcia,"  "  I  in  Pannonia,"  "  I  in  Germany ;"  all  this  cannot 
be  described  in  words,  and  perhaps  will  scarcely  gain  belief.^ 

Velleius  is  sorely  disappointing  as  a  source  for  the  Ger- 
mans. He  neglects  the  splendid  opportunity  of  recording 
for  us  the  habits  and  customs  passing  daily  under  his  very 
eyes.  In  the  few  pages  which  he  devotes  to  the  subject,  he 
tells  only  of  military  operations  and  personal  anecdotes, 
and  everything  is  subordinated  to  the  one  great  purpose  of 
praising  Tiberius : 

I  cannot  forbear  inserting  the  following  incident,  whatever 
may  be  thought  of  it,  among  affairs  of  so  much  greater  magni- 
tude. While  we  were  encamped  on  the  hither  bank  of  this 
river  [the  Elbe] ,  and  while  the  farther  bank  glittered  with  the 
armor  of  the  enemy's  troops,  who  always  drew  back  at  the 
least  movement  of  our  ships,  one  of  the  barbarians,  far  ad- 
vanced in  years,  of  extraordinary  stature,  and,  as  his  dress 

lii,  104. 


445]  HISTORIANS  AND  GEOGRAPHERS  39 

indicated,  of  the  highest  dignity,  embarked  in  a  canoe  formed 
of  a  tree  hollowed  out,  such  as  is  common  among  those  tribes ; 
and,  managing  this  vessel  alone,  he  advanced  as  far  as  the 
middle  of  the  stream,  requesting  to  be  allowed,  without  danger 
to  himself,  to  land  on  the  bank  which  we  occupied  with  our 
army,  and  to  see  Caesar.  This  request  was  granted.  Having 
then  brought  his  canoe  to  shore,  and  contemplated  Caesar  a 
long  time  in  silence,  he  said,  "  Our  young  men  are  certainly 
mad ;  they  worship  your  divinity  in  your  absence ;  yet,  in  your 
presence,  they  choose  rather  to  dread  your  arms  than  to  trust 
your  faith.  For  my  part,  Caesar,  I  have  this  day,  by  your 
permission  and  favor,  seen  the  gods,  of  whom  I  had  before 
only  heard,  and  I  never  in  my  Hfe  either  wished  for  or  ex- 
perienced a  day  of  greater  happiness."  Then,  having  obtained 
leave  to  touch  his  hand,  he  re-embarked  in  his  little  vessel, 
and  continually  looking  back  at  Caesar,  sailed  away  to  the  bank 
occupied  by  his  countrymen     .     .     .^ 

Velleius  gives  hasty  sketches  of  the  campaigns  in  Ger- 
many and  in  Pannonia,  but  he  is  not  interested  in  geo- 
graphy, ethnology  or  race  characteristics.  He  has  appar- 
ently no  settled  conviction  as  to  what  a  German  is : 

The  whole  extent  of  Germany  was  traversed  by  our  army; 
nations  were  conquered  that  were  almost  unknown  to  us  even 
in  name.  The  tribes  of  the  Chauki  were  reduced  to  submis- 
sion. .  .  .  The  Langobardi,  a  nation  exceeding  even  the 
Germans  in  fierceness,  were  crushed     .     .     .' 

In  the  absence  of  other  contemporary  accounts  of  the 
early  principate,  we  are  forced  to  rely  on  such  later  his- 
torians as  Florus,  Appian,  Suetonius,  and  Tacitus.' 

Florus,  a  native  according  to  some  of  Spain  and  to  others 
of  Gaul,  wrote  in  the  reign  of  Trajan  an  abridgment  of 
Roman  history  *  from  earliest  times  to  Augustus.     It  was 

1  ii,  107.  *  ii,  106.  *  See  infra,  p.  46  et  seq. 

*  Epitome   de   gestis   Romanorum,   or   Bellorum    omnium   annorum 


40  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [446 

based  on  Livy  and  other  works  now  lost,  and  is  less  a  his- 
tory than  a  panegyric.  Oratorical,  affected,  obscure,  filled 
with  geographical  and  chronological  errors,  the  epitome 
enjoyed  popularity  in  the  middle  ages  but  is  not  important 
for  our  purposes. 

Appian  was  a  Greek  historian  who  lived  at  Alexandria 
about  the  middle  of  the  second  century.  For  a  time  he  was 
a  lawyer  at  Rome,  but  later  obtained  from  Antoninus  Pius 
the  office  of  imperial  procurator  in  Egypt.  He  wrote  a 
work  ^  on  the  development  of  the  Roman  empire,  extending 
to  the  time  of  Trajan,  consisting  of  a  number  of  special 
histories  of  the  several  periods  and  the  several  lands  and 
peoples  which  fell  under  Roman  control.  It  originally 
comprised  twenty-four  books  but  only  eleven  are  preserved 
complete  besides  the  preface.  The  most  important  are 
books  thirteen  to  seventeen  on  the  civil  wars.  The  work 
is  obviously  a  dry  compilation  and  is  disfigured  by  numer- 
ous blunders. 

Suetonius,  a  lawyer  at  Rome  in  the  reign  of  Trajan  and 
afterwards  private  secretary  to  Hadrian  until  his  familiarity 
with  the  emperor's  wife  drove  him  from  court  in  disgrace, 
was  in  an  excellent  position  to  know  the  scandals  and  gossip 
of  the  time,  and  his  celebrated  biographies  of  the  twelve 
Caesars  from  Julius  to  Domitian  ^  have  conspicuously  con- 
firmed his  fame  as  a  scandal  monger.     His  history  has  the 

DCC  libri  duo,  usually  divided  into  two  books,  though  sometimes  into 
four.  The  best  edition  is  that  of  C.  Halm  (Leipzig,  1879).  There  is 
an  English  translation  by  J.  S.  Watson  in  the  Bohn  Classical  Library 
(London,  1898). 

iThe  best  text  is  that  in  the  Teubner  edition  by  L.  Mendelssohn, 
2  vols.  (Leipzig,  1878-81).  There  is  an  English  translation  by  H. 
White,  2  vols.  (New  York,  1899). 

2  Vitae  Duodecitn  Caesarum.  The  standard  text  is  that  of  C.  L. 
Roth  (Leipzig,  1886).  There  is  an  English  translation  by  Thomson 
&  Forester  in  the  Bohn  Qassical  Library  (London,  1881). 


447]  HISTORIANS  AND  GEOGRAPHERS  41 

form  and  the  relative  importance  of  memoirs;  it  may  be 
truthful,  it  certainly  is  personal  and  anecdotal.  His  first 
care  is  to  picture  the  personal  conduct  and  habits  of  the 
Caesars;  only  indirectly  does  he  record  the  military  events; 
the  peoples  of  the  empire  receive  slight  attention  and  the 
tribes  outside  the  empire  even  less.  The  critical  reader  is 
impressed  with  the  feeling  that  Suetonius  affords  more 
amusement  than  information. 

Three  descriptions  of  Germany  have  come  down  to  us 
from  the  early  period  of  the  principate:^  the  geographies 
of  Strabo  and  Pomponius  Mela,  and  the  natural  history  of 
the  Elder  Pliny. 

Strabo,  a  Greek,  was  born  in  Pontus  and  studied  in  var- 
ious eastern  cities.  He  lived  some  years  at  Rome,  traveled 
extensively  in  various  countries,  and  in  the  reign  of  Tiber- 
ius published  in  Greek  a  general  geography  in  seventeen 
books.''  The  seventh  describes  that  part  of  Europe  north 
of  the  Rhine  and  Danube;  roughly  speaking,  seven  pages 
are  given  to  Germany,  three  to  the  Cimbri,  fifteen  to  the 
Getae,  seven  to  the  tribes  living  at  the  mouths  of  the  Dan- 
ube and  Dniester,  and  seven  to  those  in  the  Crimea.    Strabo 

*  In  this  connection  should  be  mentioned  the  poetical  epistles  of 
Ovid,  who  was  banished  by  Augustus  about  A.  D.  8  to  Tomi  (mod- 
ern Kustindje),  a  little  town  on  the  Black  Sea  near  the  mouths  of 
the  Danube.  There  he  lived  among  Getae  and  Sarmatians  and  other 
tribes  until  his  death  in  A.  D.  17  or  18  and  composed  nine  books  of 
letters  in  verse,  which  mention  the  dress  and  manners,  the  arms  and 
marauding  expeditions,  of  the  barbarian  peoples.  Ovid's  descriptions 
are  colored  by  his  personal  grief  and  by  the  requirements  of  his 
muse.  The  Teubner  text  of  Ovid  is  edited  by  A.  Reise  (Leipzig, 
1871-89). 

2  The  best  edition  is  that  of  A.  Meineke,  3  vols.  (Leipzig,  1866-77). 
A  French  translation,  undertaken  by  command  of  Napoleon  (Paris, 
1805-19),  has  valuable  notes.  There  is  an  English  translation  by  H.  C. 
Hamilton  and  W.  Falconer  in  the  Bohn  Classical  Library,  3  vols. 
(London,  1854-57). 


42  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [448 

did  not  visit  Germany  himself  and  his  statements  about  it 
are  chiefly  taken  from  Caesar  and  Posidonius. 

Strabo  had  very  vague  ideas  about  the  German  race: 

Next  after  the  Celtic  tribes  come  the  Germans,  who  inhabit 
the  country  to  the  east  beyond  the  Rhine;  and  these  differ 
but  little  from  the  Celtic  race,  except  in  their  being  more 
fierce,  of  a  larger  stature,  and  more  ruddy  in  countenance; 
but  in  every  other  respect,  their  figure,  their  customs  and 
manners  of  life,  are  such  as  we  have  related  of  the  Celts. 
The  Romans,  therefore,  I  think,  have  very  appositely  applied 
to  them  the  name  "  Germani,"  as  signifying  genuine ;  for  in 
the  Latin  language  Germani  signifies  genuine.^ 

It  is  apparent  that  Strabo  will  not  accept  every  foolish 
statement  of  Pytheas  or  of  Posidonius  or  of  Eratosthenes 
or  of  anyone  else;  if  he  himself  does  not  know  the  truth  of 
the  given  statement,  he  will  at  least  test  it  by  common  sense : 

Some  of  the  accounts  which  we  receive  of  the  Cimbri  are  not 
worthy  of  credit,  while  others  seem  likely  enough  :  for  instance, 
no  one  could  accept  the  reason  given  for  their  wandering  life 
and  piracy,  that,  dwelling  on  a  peninsula,  they  were  driven  out 
of  their  settlements  by  a  very  high  tide;  for  they  still  to  this 
day  possess  the  country  which  they  had  in  former  times,  and 
have  sent  as  a  present  to  Augustus  the  caldron  held  most 
sacred  by  them,  supplicating  his  friendship,  and  an  amnesty 
for  past  offences ;  and  having  obtained  their  request  they  have 
returned  home.  Indeed,  it  would  have  been  ridiculous  for 
them  to  have  departed  from  their  country  in  a  pet  on  account 
of  a  natural  and  constant  phenomenon  which  occurs  twice 
every  day.  .  .  .  Clitarchus  is  not  to  be  trusted  when  he 
says  that  their  cavalry,  on  seeing  the  sea  flow  in,  rode  off  at 
full  speed,  and  yet  scarcely  escaped  by  flight  from  being  over- 
taken by  the  flood;  for  we  know  by  experience  that  the  tide 

1  vii,  I,  a. 


449]  HISTORIANS  AND  GEOGRAPHERS  43 

does  not  come  in  with  such  impetuosity,  but  that  the  sea 
advances  stealthily  by  slow  degrees     .     .     .^ 

These  tribes  dwelling  along  the  coast  beyond  the  Elbe  arc 
entirely  unknown  to  us ;  for  no  one  of  the  ancients  with  whom 
I  am  acquainted  has  prosecuted  this  voyage  towards  the  east 
as  far  as  the  mouths  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  neither  have  the 
Romans  as  yet  sailed  coastwise  beyond  the  Elbe,  nor  has  any- 
one traveling  on  foot  penetrated  farther  into  this  country. 
.  .  .  Nor  can  we  say  whether  these  tribes  extend  as  far 
as  the  [Northern]  Ocean,  along  the  whole  distance,  or  whether 
[between  them  and  the  ocean]  there  are  countries  rendered 
unfit  for  habitation  by  the  cold  or  by  any  other  cause;  or 
whether  men  of  a  different  race  are  situated  between  the  sea 
and  the  most  eastern  of  the  Germans     .     .     .^ 

In  Strabo  we  find  a  distinct  trace  of  that  edifying  moral- 
izing in  contrasting  barbarians  with  Romans  which  Tacitus 
was  to  further,  which  early  Christian  writers  were  to  em- 
phasize as  a  branch  of  their  own  apologetics  and  as  an 
incentive  to  the  growth  of  a  spiritual  life,  and  which  finally 
was  to  stir  modern  German  patriotism  and  English  pride 
to  the  very  point  of  Charles  Kingsley's  highly  idealized 
parallel  between  Roman  and  Teuton.  Strabo  quotes  Aes- 
chylus on  the  Scythians  "  governed  by  good  laws  and  feed- 
ing on  cheese  of  mares'  milk  "  and  adds : 

And  this  is  still  the  opinion  entertained  of  them  by  the  Greeks ; 
for  we  esteem  them  the  most  sincere,  the  least  deceitful  of  any 
people,  and  much  more  frugal  and  self -relying  than  ourselves. 
And  yet  the  manner  of  life  customary  among  us  has  spread 
almost  everywhere  and  brought  about  a  change  for  the  worst, 
effeminacy,  luxury  and  over-great  refinement,  inducing  ex- 
tortion in  ten  thousand  different  ways ;  and  doubtless  much 
of  this  corruption  has  penetrated  even  into  the  countries  of  the 
nomads  as  well  as  those  of  the  other  barbarians;  for  having 

*  vii,  2,  I.  '  vij,  2,  4. 


44  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [450 

once  learned  to  navigate  the  sea,  they  have  become  depraved, 
committing  piracy  and  murdering  strangers;  and  holding  in- 
tercourse with  many  different  nations,  they  have  imitated  both 
their  extravagance  and  their  dishonest  traffic,  which  may 
indeed  appear  to  promote  civility  of  manners,  but  do  doubtless 
corrupt  the  morals  and  lead  to  dissimulation  in  place  of  the 
genuine  sincerity  we  have  before  noticed.^ 

Pomponius  Mela,  a  native  of  Spain,  wrote  about  the 
time  of  Caligula  or  Claudius  a  very  concise  Latin  work  on 
geography,^  perhaps  an  epitome  of  larger  works  then  in 
existence.  It  is  clear,  simple  and  forceful,  but  the  author 
gives  no  sign  of  having  visited  Germany  himself,  and  his 
unquestioning  repetition  of  earlier  stories  makes  his  book 
less  important  than  Strabo's. 

Pliny,  whose  lost  history  of  the  Germanic  wars  is  men- 
tioned above,  has  left  a  few  statements  about  the  Germans 
in  his  curious  encyclopedic  work,  the  Natural  History.* 
He  frankly  admits  that  he  cannot  tell  the  dimensions  of  the 
respective  territories  of  the  German  tribes,  "  so  immensely 
do  the  authorities  differ."  He  distinguishes  five  races  in 
Germany:  the  Vandals,  including  the  Burgundians  and 
Goths;  the  Ingaevones,  including  the  Cimbri,  Teutones  and 
Chauki ;  the  Istaevones,  including  here  likewise  the  trouble- 
some Cimbri ;  the  Hermiones,  including  the  Suevi ;  and  the 

^  vii,  3,  7. 

'  De  situ  orbis  libri  tres.  The  best  edition  is  by  C.  Frick  (Leipzig, 
1880). 

'  The  Natural  History  in  thirty-seven  books  was  dedicated  to  Titus 
and  published  in  A.  D.  77,  two  years  before  Pliny  lost  his  life  in  the 
eruption  of  Vesuvius.  The  introduction  states  that  it  was  compiled 
from  twenty  thousand  notices  extracted  from  over  two  thousand 
writings.  The  section  on  the  Germans  is  in  bk.  iv,  ch.  28.  The 
Teubner  edition  is  by  V.  Rose  (Leipzig,  1875)-  There  in  an  English 
translation  of  the  entire  work  by  J.  Bostock  and  H.  J.  Riley  in  6  vols, 
in  the  Bohn  Qassical  Library. 


45 1  ]  HISTORIANS  AND  GEOGRAPHERS  45 

Peucini  who  are  also  called  Bastarnae.  It  is  needless  to 
remark  that  this  distinction  is  not  confirmed  by  later  writers. 
Pliny  makes  no  effort  to  describe  the  customs  of  the  Ger- 
mans or  to  go  into  their  history. 

The  geographers — Strabo,  Pomponius  Mela,  and  Pliny 
— are  supplemented  by  the  later  work  of  Ptolemy  ^  and  the 
Table  of  Peutinger,^  which  afford  us  names  of  peoples  and 
places  and  some  explanatory  notes. 

1  Ptolemy,  the  famous  Greek  mathematician,  astronomer  and  geog- 
rapher, lived  at  Alexandria  in  the  second  century  A.  D.  One  of  our 
chief  sources  for  ancient  geography  is  his  Veu>ypa<^iKfi  'Yipr/yj/acg,  books 
ii-vii  of  which  contain  names  of  places  in  the  maps  described,  ar- 
ranged according  to  degrees  and  their  subdivisions.  It  has  been  edited 
by  C.  Miiller  (Paris,  1883).  The  Teubner  edition  of  Ptolemy's  works 
is  by  J.  L.  Heiberg,  2  vols.  (Leipzig,  1898,  1907). 

2  The  Peutinger  map,  which  is  now  in  Vienna,  was  painted  in  1265 
from  an  original  map  of  about  the  middle  of  the  third  century.  It 
consists  of  twelve  broad  strips  of  parchment  on  which  are  repre- 
sented the  parts  of  the  world  known  to  the  Romans,  except  Spain 
and  most  of  Britain,  which  are  lost.  An  excellent  fac-simile  has  been 
published  by  O.  Maier  (Ravensburg,  1888),  and  the  map  appears  on  a 
small  scale  in  J,  G.  J.  Perthes,  Atlas  Antiquus  (Gotha,  1893). 


OF  THE 

CF 


CHAPTER  V 

Tacitus 

A  PROMINENT  figure  in  the  charming  literary  circle  of 
the  Younger  Pliny  and  Suetonius  was  Tacitus.  Little  is 
known  of  this  writer  who  has  played  so  unique  a  role  in 
the  historiography  of  the  early  Germans.  He  was  slightly 
older  than  the  Younger  Pliny,  and  received  various  favors 
from  Vespasian,  Titus  and  Domitian,  and  in  the  reign  of 
Nerva  (A.  D.  97)  was  appointed  consul  suifectus.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  survived  Trajan,  who  died  in  A.  D.  117.  His 
historical  writings,^  on  which  he  worked  so  indefatigably 
and  for  which  he  has  been  so  highly  esteemed  in  modern 
times,  include  a  biography  of  his  father-in-law  Agricola, 
the  Roman  general  in  Britain;  the  Historiae,  or  contem- 
porary narrative,  a  detailed  account  of  Roman  history  from 
the  second  consulship  of  Galba  (68)  to  the  death  of  Dom- 
itian (96),  of  which  we  have  only  the  first  four  books  in 
complete  form,  comprehending  the  events  of  barely  one 
year,  and  part  of  the  fifth  book  treating  of  the  beginning 
of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus  and  the  war  of  Civilis  in 
Germany;  and  the  Annales,  based  on  other  authorities,  and 
covering  in  16  books  the  period  from  the  death  of  Augustus 
(14)  to  the  death  of  Nero  (68).  Considerable  portions  of 
the  Annales  are  lost,  notably  the  narrative  of  Caligula's 
reign,  of  the  first  fifteen  years  of  Claudius  and  of  the  last 

1  The  best  English  translation  of  Tacitus  is  that  of  Church  &  Brod- 
ribb  (London,  1876-77).  See  C.  Baier,  Tacitus  und  Plutarch  (Frank- 
furt, 1893). 

46  [452 


453]  TACITUS  47 

two  of  Nero.  The  Annates  and  Historiae  are  of  notable 
importance  in  dealing  with  the  barbarian  wars  of  the  first 
century  along  the  Rhine  and  Danube,  but  social  conditions 
of  the  people  receive  far  less  attention  than  the  chief  actors, 
emperors  or  generals,  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  Tacitus 
himself  visited  those  regions.  The  style  of  Tacitus  often 
interferes  with  his  historical  accuracy :  like  Sallust,  his  dis- 
play of  conscious  rhetoric  occasionally  produces  obscurity; 
he  is  often  intensely  epigrammatic;  his  sketches,  usually 
rapid  and  brief,  become  sometimes  too  minute  when  he 
works  up  a  dramatic  situation.  Then  too  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  political  convictions  of  Tacitus  colored  his 
writings.  He  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  senatorial 
and  aristocratic  reaction  against  the  tendency  of  the  times 
to  increase  the  personal  power  of  the  prince.  His  thor- 
oughly pessimistic  view  of  the  condition  of  Roman  society 
led  him  into  undoubted  exaggeration.  At  any  rate,  his 
testimony  and  opinions  in  the  matter  are  not  confirmed  by 
his  genial  friend  and  contemporary,  the  Younger  Pliny,* 
who  writes  quite  pleasantly  and  hopefully  of  imperial  con- 
ditions. 

Of  greater  importance  for  our  purposes  than  the  Annates 
and  Historian  of  Tacitus  in  his  little  treatise  on  the  customs 
and  peoples  of  Germany,  commonly  called  the  Germania.' 
If  we  knew  more  about  Tacitus,  we  might  know  how  ser- 
iously to  take  this  twenty-five-page  article.     In  our  ignor- 

*  The  Letters  of  the  Younger  Pliny  are  translated  into  English  by 
J.  B.  Firth,  2  vols.  (London,  1900). 

2  An  excellent  edition  is  that  of  H.  Furneaux  (Oxford,  1894).  There 
is  an  especially  good  English  translation  in  the  Translations  and  Re- 
prints of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  vol.  vi,  number  3,  and  a  fairly 
literal  translation  in  the  Bohn  Classical  Library.  An  excellent  recent 
translation  of  the  Germania  and  the  Agricola  is  by  W.  H.  Fyfe  (Ox- 
ford, 1908). 


48  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [454 

ance,  we  have  been  prone  to  take  it  very  seriously.  It  pur- 
ports to  describe  the  geography  of  Germany,  the  common 
religious,  social  and  political  customs  of  the  land,  and  then 
the  respective  characteristics  of  the  foremost  tribes.  Its  very 
uniqueness,  its  tickling  of  national  vanity  through  praise 
of  German  virtues,^  the  mystery  surrounding  its  composi- 
tion, the  problem  of  its  relative  authority,  and  the  im- 
possibility of  verifying  or  controlling  many  of  its  state- 
ments have  conspired  to  exalt  it  as  the  synoptical  gospel  of 
German  politics  and  of  German  economics. 

The  geography  of  the  Germania  is  as  vague  and  unsatis- 
factory as  that  of  Strabo  and  of  Pliny,  but  the  descrip- 
tion is  more  detailed  in  other  respects.  The  country  is  rude 
and  unattractive  in  appearance  with  an  inclement  atmos- 
phere. The  inhabitants  are  sprung  from  the  soil  and  are 
divided  into  three  races:  the  Ingaevones,  those  bordering 
on  the  ocean;  the  Herminones,  those  inhabiting  the  central 
parts;  and  the  rest,  the  Istaevones. 

I  myself  subscribe  to  the  opinion  of  those  who  hold  that  the 
German  tribes  have  never  been  contaminated  by  intermarriage 
with  other  nations,  but  have  remained  peculiar  and  unmixed 
and  wholly  unlike  other  people.  Hence  the  bodily  type  is  the 
same  among  them  all  notwithstanding  the  extent  of  their  num- 
bers :  piercing  blue  eyes,  reddish  hair,  and  gigantic  stature,  fit 
only  for  sudden  exertion,  impatient  of  labor  and  toil,  and 
altogether  incapable  of  sustaining  heat  or  thirst. 

The  Germans  celebrate  their  past  in  barbarous  verse 
and  also  sing  to  stimulate  each  other  to  deeds  of  heroism. 
Their  kings  and  generals  are  elective;  the  power  of  the 
former  is  not  absolute,  and  the  latter  command  more  by 

1  Horace  had  already  represented  Scythians  and  Getae  in  an  ideal 
light  in  order  to  bring  into  relief  the  corruption  of  Rome  {carm.  3, 
24.  9). 


455]  TACITUS  49 

force  of  example  than  from  any  other  kind  of  authority, 
on  minor  concerns  of  state  only  their  chiefs  and  princes 
consult  together,  but  those  of  greater  importance  the  whole 
nation  determine,  and  this  great  council  decides  judicial 
matters,  fines  being  paid  to  the  king  or  to  the  relatives  of 
the  injured  party.  In  battle  they  put  more  dependence  on 
infantry  than  on  cavalry,  and  their  columns  are  not  formed 
by  chance  but  of  families,  and  their  women  often  accom- 
pany and  incite  them.  The  German  youth  is  equipped  with 
arms  as  the  toga  of  manhood  and  attaches  himself  to  some 
general.  The  Germans  pass  the  intervals  of  peace  more 
in  sloth  than  in  the  chase;  the  women  and  the  old  men  do 
the  work.  There  are  no  cities,  but  the  tribesmen  live  sep- 
arated and  in  various  places,  as  a  spring  or  a  meadow  or 
a  grove  strikes  their  fancy.  They  lay  out  their  settlements 
not  in  connected  or  closely-joined  houses,  but  everyone  sur- 
rounds his  rude  hut  with  an  open  space,  either  as  a  pro- 
tection against  fire  or  because  of  ignorance  of  the  art  of 
building.  Their  land  is  owned  in  common  and  parceled 
out  and  worked  in  turn.  Cattle  constitute  the  chief  wealth 
of  the  Germans,  gold  and  silver  not  being  esteemed  more 
than  clay,  and  iron  is  not  plentiful  with  them.  A  long 
flowing  cloak  and  skins  of  wild  beasts  constitute  the  only 
clothing.  The  matrimonial  bond  is  extremely  severe  and 
polygamy  is  seldom  practiced.  They  hate  slavery,  especially 
for  their  women,  and  the  Romans  have  been  more  success- 
ful in  pacifying  the  Germans  by  taking  women  hostages 
than  men.  The  Germans  are  very  hospitable  but  are  ad- 
dicted to  the  evils  of  drunkenness  ^  and  gambling.  In  re- 
ligion,^ they  worship  Mercury  most,  but  also  Hercules  and 

*  Appian  {Civil  Wars,  ii,  64)  tells  us  that  the  Germans  in  Caesar's 
anny  were  especially  ridiculous  under  the  influence  of  liquor  and  im- 
periled his  chances  against  Pompey. 

2  In  flat  contradiction  to  Caesar.    Cf.  supra,  p.  31. 


50  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [456 

Mars,  to  whom  they  consecrate  woods  and  groves.  Some 
of  the  Suevi  also  perform  sacred  rites  to  Isis.  The  Ger- 
mans are  superstitious  and  carefully  observe  omens  and 
lots.  Their  funeral  rites  are  not  so  grand  as  those  of  the 
Romans,  it  being  the  province  of  women,  they  think,  to  weep 
over  their  friends  but  of  men  to  remember  them. 

Whence  did  Tacitus  obtain  this  information  ?  We  gather 
from  his  constant  use  of  hearsay  and  from  his  few  admis- 
sions of  ignorance  that  he  never  visited  Germany  or  knew 
many  Germans  at  Rome.  Tacitus  was  obviously  a  scholar 
and  an  important  figure  in  the  cultured  circle  of  his  time. 
He  was  interested  in  histor}-  and  likewise  in  current  poli- 
tics. It  was  natural  that  he,  an  authority  on  the  Germanic 
wars,  should  be  appealed  to  by  his  friends  to  write  an  essay 
on  the  Germans.  It  was  natural,  likewise,  that  the  essay 
should,  in  the  main,  take  the  form  of  an  appreciation. 
Quite  likely,  he  had  talked  with  Romans  who  had  ac- 
companied the  armies  into  Germany  and  read  little  articles 
and  letters  about  the  people;  he  had  very  likely  seen  Ger- 
mans on  the  street  and  heard  them  talk  in  their  outlandish 
tongue.  It  is  fair  to  suppose  that  he  knew  as  much 
about  Germany  as  an  American  historian  of  the  Spanish- 
American  war  who  had  never  visited  Manila  would 
know  about  the  Philippines.  If  he  were  painstaking 
and  conscientious  and  had  no  political  axe  to  grind, 
he  might  be  able  to  write  as  authoritatively  on  the 
conditions  of  the  Germans  and  the  nice  distinctions  between 
tribes  as  the  American  could  do  in  describing  the  social, 
political  and  religious  customs  of  the  archipelago  and  in 
distinguishing  the  various  peoples  on  the  island  of  Luzon. 
And  if  the  work  of  the  American  historian  of  the  Spanish- 
American  War  should  alone  of  all  present  accounts  sur- 
vive two  thousand  years  hence,  our  descendants  would 
doubtless  pin  the  same  pathetic  blind   faith   to  each  and 


457]  TACITUS  51 

every  statement  therein  contained  as  we  have  attached  to 
the  slender  essay  of  Tacitus. 

We  have  in  fact  been  painfully  victimized  by  many  critics 
of  the  Ger mania  in  the  nineteenth  century.  These  scholars 
have  used  it  as  a  text  for  the  construction  of  bulky  com- 
mentaries until  they  have  credited  to  the  primitive  Ger- 
mans a  curious  Utopian  government  and  a  marvellous 
agrarian  socialism.  The  opinion  almost  universally  ac- 
cepted before  Fustel  de  Coulanges  and  Seebohm  was  based 
on  the  interpretations  of  the  Germans,  Von  Maurer  and 
Waitz,  and  of  the  Englishmen,  Maine  and  Stubbs,^  and 
was  in  effect  that  the  German  barbarians,  when  they  came 
into  the  Roman  empire,  comprised  a  stalwart  host  of  blue- 
eyed,  yellow-haired  free  men,  who  governed  themselves  by 
popular  national  councils,  administered  justice  by  popular 
local  assemblies,  and  lived  together  in  little  village  groups 
of  independent  yeomen.  It  was,  indeed,  recognized  that 
there  were  gradations  of  rank  and  that  some  individuals 
were  unfortunate  enough  to  be  slaves,  but  these  and  simi- 
lar facts  were  not  supposed  to  affect  the  general  outline  of 
the  picture;  and  even  those  writers  who  expressed  them- 
selves most  guardedly  as  to  this  "  primitive  Teutonic  polity  " 
proceeded  by  the  subsequent  course  of  their  narrative  to 
assume  it  as  their  starting  point.  And  practically  the  whole 
theory  was  formulated  from  this  one  little  text  of  Tacitus. 
The  Germania  created   the  "  primitive   Teutonic  polity  " ; 

1  The  "  Germanist "  contention  is  stated  by  Von  Maurer,  Einleitung 
zur  Geschichte  der  Mark-,  Hof-,  Dorf-,  und  Stadt-Verfassung  (1854) ; 
G.  Waitz,  Deutsche  Verfassungsgeschichte  (1844)  ;  Sir  Henry  Maine, 
Village  Communities  in  East  and  West  ( 1871 )  ;  W.  Stubbs,  Constitu- 
tional History  of  England,  vol.  i  (1873).  The  opposing,  or  "Roman- 
ist," contention  is  stated  by  Fustel  de  Coulanges,  Histoire  des  Institu- 
tions politique s  de  I'ancienne  France  ( 1875- 1892 )  ;  Seebohm,  English 
Village  Communities  (1883)  ;  Ashley,  Surveys  historic  and  economic 
(1891). 


52  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [458 

the  devotees  of  the  "  primitive  Teutonic  polity  "  adored  and 
magnified  the  Germunia.  Thus  much  depended  on  the 
reliable  information,  the  unbiased  intent  and  the  truth- 
fulness of  Tacitus.  Of  the  extent  to  which  he  possessed 
these  qualifications,  no  final  positive  estimate  can  be  made. 
After  Tacitus  there  is  nothing  on  the  social  order  or  the 
institutions  of  the  Germans  except  a  few  casual  remarks 
and  the  much  later  barbarian  codes.  On  these  matters, 
therefore,  we  are  almost  wholly  dependent  on  Caesar, 
Strabo,  and  Tacitus;  and  very  few  German  characteristics 
stand  out  certainly,  clearly,  and  uncontradicted  by  any  of 
the  three.  It  is  agreed  that  the  Germans  were  a  primitive 
race,  large  of  stature  and  strong,  fond  of  out-door  life  and 
license;  the  men  loved  perils  and  piracy,  warfare  and  the 
chase;  the  women  were  held  in  high  repute  and  did  most 
of  the  work;  towns  and  cities  were  seemingly  regarded 
with  aversion;  work  was  mainly  agricultural,  cattle  con- 
stituting the  chief  wealth,  and  the  people  making  common 
use  of  the  fields  and  woods  surrounding  them;  Germanic 
political  organization  was  tribal  and  each  head  of  a  family 
had  absolute  power  over  his  household;  the  king  or  chief- 
tain of  the  tribe  was  usually  chosen  from  among  the  nobles, 
but  his  power  was  limited,  and  government  seems  to  have 
been  aristocratic  rather  than  monarchical;  the  Germans 
were  hospitable  but  addicted  to  laziness,  gambling  and  in- 
temperance. These  points  of  agreement  in  the  sources  are 
small  and  unsatisfactory,  and  admit  of  wide  differences  of 
interpretation.  Any  more  definite  or  detailed  statement, 
moreover,  is  sure  to  find  contradiction  by  ancients  and 
create   learned    dissension   among   moderns.^       The   same 

iThus  the  Gefolge,  which  has  been  generally  received  as  an  institu- 
tion peculiarly  Germanic  and  has  supplied  a  topic  for  endless  discussion, 
is  treated  by  Tacitus  more  specifically  than  by  the  earlier  writers.  This 
fact  has  led  even  the  cautious  Fustel  de  Coulanges  into  making  elab- 


459]  TACITUS  53 

general  statements  could  with  propriety  be  applied  to  the 
customs  of  almost  any  primitive  people,  even  the  early 
Greeks  or  Romans.  We  do  know  from  the  sources  at  hand 
that  the  customs  of  the  early  Germans  were  more  primitive 
and  less  developed  than  those  of  the  contemporary  subjects 
of  the  empire. 

In  reading-  Caesar  or  Tacitus,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  Germans  they  knew  may  have  been  quite  different 
from  the  Germans  with  Clovis  or  Theodoric.  The  customs 
of  the  early  Germans  could  not  well  be  stereotyped  or  uni- 
form. Various  contemporary  tribes  probably  differed  con- 
siderably in  habits  and  mode  of  life ;  and  it  is  beyond  doubt 
that  during  the  four  centuries  which  elapsed  from  Caesar's 
Suevic  campaign  to  the  migrations  of  the  Visigoths,  inter- 
necine strife,  contact  with  Roman  civilization,  and  natural 
development  altered  the  German  customs,  yet  never  to  such 
a  degree  that  during  that  time  the  German  in  Germany  at- 
tained to  anywhere  near  the  civilization  of  the  Roman 
even  in  Gaul.  The  most  obvious  feature  of  the  Germanic 
invasions  is  the  conflict  between  a  higher  and  a  lower  order 
of  development  and  civilization. 

orate  speculations  on  the  development  of  the  Gefolge  among  the  Ger- 
mans between  the  time  of  Caesar  and  that  of  Tacitus,  which  may  or 
may  not  have  been  the  case. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Narrative  Sources  of  the  Second,  Third  and  Fourth 

Centuries 

The  historians  of  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  centuries, 
Dio  Cassius,  .Herodian,  the  writers  of  the  so-called  Augus- 
_tan  Histories,  Eutropius,  Aurelius  Victor  and  Ammianus 
Marcellinus,  discuss,  in  some  cases  at  considerable  length, 
various  campaigns  against  German  armies  and  marauders 
along  the  Danube  and  the  Rhine;  they  occasionally  and  in- 
cidentally mention  Germans  within  the  empire  and  acquaint 
us  indirectly  with  the  wholesale  peaceful  immigration  of 
barbarians  into  Roman  territory;  they  give  but  few  hints 
of  German  customs. 

-^  DioCassius  ^  was  born  about  155  at  Nicaea  in  Bithynia. 
His  father  was  a  Roman  senator  and  had  been  governor 
of  Dalmatia  and  Cilicia,  and  he  himself  entered  public  ser- 
vice at  Rome  in  180  and  thenceforth  steadily  advanced  until 
his  retirement  in  229.  He  was  made  senator  under  Com- 
modus,  prefect  of  Pergamum  and  Smyrna  under  Macrinus, 
and  governor  in  turn  of  Africa,  Dalmatia  and  Upper  Pan- 
nonia  under  Alexander  Severus.      His  history  *  in  eighty 

^  Sometimes  written  Cassius  Dio.  The  historian  belonged  to  the 
gens  Cassia  (his  father  was  Cassius  Apronianus)  and  he  took  Dio  as 
cognomen  from  his  maternal  grandfather,  Dio  Chrysostom. 

2  The  best  text  of  Dio  Cassius  is  edited  by  U.  P.  Boissevain,  3  vols. 
(Berlin,  1895- 1901).  The  text  of  L.  Dindorf,  revised  by  J.  Melber, 
2  vols.  (Leipzig,  1890- 1894)  is  much  used  and  good.  There  is  an  ad- 
mirable English  translation  by  H.  B.  Foster  (Troy,  N.  Y.,  1905-1906), 
On  Dio  Cassius,  Herodian,  and  contemporaries,  see  A.  Schafer,  Quel- 
lenkunde  d.  gr.-rom.  Gesch.  (Leipzig,  1885). 

54  [460 


46l  ]      NARRA  TIVE  SO  URGES  OF  EARL  Y  CENTURIES        5  5 

books,  covering  Roman  affairs  from  the  arrival  of  Aeneas 
in  Italy  to  his  own  day,  was  undertaken  on  the  suggestion 
of  Septimius  Severus  and  completed  after  the  author's  re- 
tirement in  229.  One  of  the  extant  fragments  ^  suggests 
its  scope  and  some  of  its  characteristics: 

I  am  anxious  to  write  a  history  of  everything  worth  remem- 
bering which  the  Romans  have  done  whether  at  peace  or  in 
war,  so  as  to  omit  nothing  essential  of  these  matters  or  of 
others.  .  .  .  But  I  have  been  forced  to  make  selections  in 
my  history.  Do  not  entertain  suspicions,  nevertheless,  as  in 
the  case  of  certain  other  writers,  regarding  the  truth  of  my 
history  merely  because  I  have  used  elaborate  diction  wherever 
the  subject  matter  permitted,  for  I  have  been  anxious  to  be 
equally  perfect  in  both  respects,  so  far  as  in  me  lies.  I  will 
begin  at  the  point  where  I  have  obtained  the  clearest  accounts 
of  what  is  reported  to  have  taken  place  in  this  land  which  we 
inhabit. 

The  work  presented  only  a  summary  of  events  to  the  time 
of  Julius  Caesar,  but  then  expanded,  especially  from  the 
time  of  Commodus.  Books  thirty-six  to  sixty,  covering 
the  period  from  68  B.  C.  to  A.  D.  60,  survive  in  complete 
form,  except  for  a  gap  in  book  fifty-five.  The  earlier  books 
were  largely  used  by  Zonaras,  a  Greek  monk  of  the  twelfth 
century,  whose  epitome  we  possess,  and  there  are  also 
fragments  in  the  compilations  made  for  Constantine  VII 
in  the  tenth  century.^  Of  the  last  twenty  books  we  have  only 
fragments  and  the  meager  abridgment  which  Xiphilinus, 
a  monk  of  the  eleventh  century,  prepared  at  the  order  of 
Michael  VII,  Parapinaces.    Dio  Cassius  had  a  wide  knowl- 

iprag.  i. 

^  Excerpta  de  virtutibus  et  vitiis,  and  the  Excerpta  de  legationibus. 
See  infra,  p.  99. 


56  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [462 

edge  of  contemporary  events  and  spoke  with  authority.  He 
wrote  in  Greek  and  expressed  himself  clearly  and,  so  far  as 
we  can  judge,  accurately  in  the  main.  His  references  to 
the  barbarians  are  not  as  numerous  as  we  might  anticipate; 
he  subordinated  other  events  to  the  relations  of  the  emperor 
with  the  senate. 

Of  the  life  of  Herodian,  we  know  practically  nothing. 
He  says  that  he  was  a  contemporary  of  the  events  he 
narrates  in  the  eight  small  books  written  in  Greek  and 
covering  the  period  from  the  death  of  Marcus  Aurelius  to 
the  reign  of  Gordian  HI  (180-238).^  Herodian's  re- 
marks are  soporific  and  his  work  is  not  highly  esteemed. 
His  importance  rests  in  the  conviction  that  he  was  an  honest- 
intentioned  contemporary. 

The  Augustan  Histories  ^  seem  to  have  been  a  com- 
pilation from  a  number  of  different  and  originally  independ- 
ent histories  written  in  the  reigns  of  Diocletian  and  Con- 
stantine.  They  comprise  imperial  biographies  from  Hadrian 
to  Numerianus  (117-284),  and  supply  many  details  not 
mentioned  elsewhere.  The  authorship  of  some  of  the  his- 
tories has  been  disputed,  but  Mr.  Bury '  gives  the  follow- 
ing convenient  tabulated  view  of  the  contributions  now 
generally  ascribed  to  the  various  biographers : 

1  Edited  by  L.  Mendelssohn  (Leipzig,  1883).  See  J.  Kreutzer's  dis- 
sertation, De  Herodiano  rerum  Romanorum  scriptore  (Bonn,  1881). 

2  Augustae  Historiae  Scriptores.  The  best  text  is  that  of  H.  Peter, 
2  vols.  (Leipzig,  1884).  The  only  English  translation  is  by  J.  Bernard 
(London,  1740). 

3  See  his  edition  of  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
Appendix,  vol.  i,  pp.  445-7.  Some  critics,  including  O.  Seeck,  have  as- 
signed the  collection  to  the  fifth  century,  but  the  greater  number  agree 
with  Mr.  Bury.  Mommsen  pointed  out  that  the  original  edition  must 
have  been  revised  and  added  to  after  the  time  of  Diocletian  and  Con- 
stantine. 


UNIVERSITY 

CF 


463] 


NARRATIVE  SOURCES  OF  EARLY  CENTURIES 


S7 


Aelius 

Spartianus 


Vulcacius 

Gallicanus 


Julius 

Capitolinus. 


Aelius 

Lampridius 


Trebellius  Pollio  ■ 


Hadrian 

Aelius  Verus   .  . 
Didius  Julianus  . 

Severus  

Pescennius  Niger 
Caracallus  .... 


Avidius  Cassius  .   .   . 

r  Antoninus  Pius  .   .   . 

Marcus  Antoninus  .  . 

Verus 

Pertinax 

Clodius  Albinus  •  .  . 
Maximini  duo  .... 
Gordiani  tres  .... 
Maximus  et  Balbinus. 

Commodus 

Diadumenus 

Heliogabalus   .... 
Alexander  Severus .  . 
Valeriani  duo   .   .   . 
Gallieni  duo  .... 
Tyranni  triginta  .   . 
Claudius     


I 

II 

IX 

X 

XI 

XIII 

VI 

III 

IV 
.  V 
VIII 
XII 
XIX 
XX 
XXI 
VII 
XVI 
XVII 
XVIII 
XXII 
XXIII 
XXIV 
XXV 
XXVI 


Flavius  Vopiscus 
Uncertain  .   .   . 


f  Geta 


Opilius  Macrinus 


XXX 

XIV 
XV 


to       >• 
XXX      » 


Date: 
before  May,  305. 


Date: 
before  May,  305. 


Date  :  reign  of 
Constantine. 


Date :   reign  of 
Constantine. 


Date: 
before  May,  305. 

Date:  after  May, 
305,  and  begun 
before  July,  306. 


The  principal  source  ^  for  the  earlier  lives  was  Marius 
Maximus  (cca.  170-230),  who  had  continued  the  work  of 
Suetonius  without  pretension  to  higher  criticism.  That 
the  writers  likewise  had  access  to  the  imperial  archives  we 

*  It  has  been  claimed  by  certain  recent  critics  that  the  writers  of 
the  Augustan  Histories  drew  considerably  from  an  anonymous,  hypo- 
thetical biographer  who  flourished  in  the  age  of  the  Severi.  See  E. 
Kornemann,  Kaiser  Hadrian  uttd  der  letzte  grosse  Historiker  von 
Rom  (Leipzig,  1905),  and  O.  T.  Schulz,  Das  Kaiserhaus  der  Antonine 
und  der  letzte  Historiker  Rams  (Leipzig,  1907). 


58  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [464 

gather  from  the  introduction  to  the  life  of  Aurelian  by 
Vopiscus : 

The  rites  had  been  celebrated  with  great  rejoicing,  which,  we 
know,  ought  to  accompany  every  festival,  when  the  prefect  of 
the  city,  Junius  Tiberianus,  an  eminent  gentleman,  whom  I 
mention  with  great  respect,  had  me  get  into  his  state  litter.  Then, 
while  his  mind  rested  from  cases  and  public  business,  he  chatted 
with  me  from  the  palace  as  far  as  the  Valerian  gardens,  and  the 
conversation  turned  on  the  life  of  the  princes.  When  we  came 
to  the  Temple  of  the  Sun,  dedicated  by  Aurehan,  whence  he 
himself  was  descended,  he  asked  me  who  had  written  that 
emperor's  life.  "  I  have  never  read  one  in  Latin,"  I  replied, 
"  but  I  have  read  several  in  Greek."  Whereat  the  good  man 
expressed  his  regret  in  these  words :  "  Thus  Thersites,  Sinon 
and  other  like  prodigies  of  antiquity  we  know  perfectly  and 
posterity  will  also  know;  but  the  deified  Aurelian,  a  most 
famous  prince,  a  most  austere  emperor,  by  whom  the  whole 
world  has  been  restored  to  the  Roman  name,  posterity  will  not 
know !  Heaven  avert  such  stupidity !  If  I  mistake  not,  how- 
ever, we  have  the  written  diary  of  this  man  and  also  the 
authentic  notes  on  his  wars:  I  wish  you  would  take  them, 
arrange  them  in  order  and  add  details  of  his  life.  They  are  in 
the  official  annals  which  have  to  be  recorded  every  day  and 
which  you  will  be  able  to  study  carefully.  I  shall  also  put  at 
your  disposal  the  annals  of  the  Ulpian  library.  Thus  you  can 
compose  a  life  of  Aurelian,  which  I  wish  you  would  do."  I  as- 
sented. I  received  Greek  books  and  surrounded  myself  with 
all  necessary  documents.  From  these  sources  whatever  was 
worthy  of  relation  I  have  brought  together  in  one  little  book. 
Please  accept  my  present,  and  if  you  are  not  satisfied,  read  the 
original  Greeks  and  order  the  official  manuscripts  which  the 
Ulpian  library  will  send  you  whenever  you  desire. 

Would  that  we  might  now  read  the  original  Greeks  and  re- 
ceive those  manuscripts  from  the  Ulpian  library!  The 
Augustan  Histories  are  full  of  personal  anecdotes  and  trivial 


465]      NARRATIVE  SOURCES  OF  EARLY  CENTURIES         59 

details/  but  are  seldom  interesting  and  never  profound. 
They  are  important  because  they  are  almost  the  only  con- 
siderable source  for  a  part  of  the  period  they  cover.  The 
very  paucity  of  extant  contemporary  accounts  makes  it  im- 
possible to  determine  their  accuracy.  It  has  been  estab- 
lished with  tolerable  certainty  ^  that  all  the  original  docu- 
ments inserted  by  Trebellius  Pollio,  whether  letters, 
speeches  or  laws,  are  forgeries. 

Eutropius,  who  served  in  the  expedition  of  Julian  against 
the  Parthians,  wrote,  among  other  works,  a  Latin  abridg- 
ment in  ten  books  of  Roman  history  from  the  foundation 
of  the  city  to  the  death  of  Jovian  in  364.'  It  is  a  brief, 
bald  outline  with  a  few  details  relating  to  third  and  fourth 
century  history  which  are  not  to  be  found  in  other  extant 
works. 

Aurelius  Victor  flourished  in  the  middle  of  the  fourth 
century,  was  governor  of  Pannonia  under  Julian  and  city 
prefect  under  Theodosius  the  Great,  and  prepared  a  series 
of  short  biographies  of  emperors  from  Augustus  to  Con- 
stantius.*  Three  other  little  treatises  are  sometimes  as- 
cribed to  Aurelius  Victor,  but  apparently  without  founda- 
tion: a  legendary  account  of  the  beginnings  of  the  Roman 
people  before  Romulus;  lives  of  illustrious  persons  from 
Romulus  and  Remus  to  Cleopatra;  and  an  epitome  of  im- 
perial biographies  from  Augustus  to  Theodosius.  The  first 
mentioned  work  is  founded  on  Suetonius  and  his  continu- 
ators  and  is  very  slender. 

1  The  authors  frequently  mention  as  a  source  for  the  pettiest  details, 
especially  of  the  less  known  emperors,  the  work  of  Aelius  Junius 
Cordus. 

2  See  A.  GemoU,  Die  Scriptores  Historiae  Augustae  (Leipzig,  1886). 
•  The  best  edition  is  that  of  H.  Droysen  in  the  Monumenta  Ger- 

maniae  historica,  Auctores  Antiquissitni,  vol.  ii  (Berlin,  1879).     There 
is  an  English  translation  by  J.  S.  Watson  in  the  Bohn  Classical  Library. 
♦Edited  by  F.  Pichlmayr  (Munich,  1892). 


6o  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [466 

By  far  the  best  and  most  important  historical  contribu- 
tion of  the  period  is  the  Latin  work  of  Ammianus  Marcel- 
Hnus.  The  work  tells  all  we  know  about  the  author:  he 
was  a  native  of  Antioch  and  a  soldier,  a  member  of  the 
imperial  body-guard,  served  under  Juhan  against  the  Par- 
thians,  and  composed  his  history  at  Rome  toward  the  end 
of  the  fourth  century.  The  history  ^  is  divided  into  thirty- 
one  books  and  originally  began  with  the  accession  of  Nerva 
(A.  D.  96),  where  Tacitus  and  Suetonius  end,  and  was 
continued  to  the  death  of  Valens  (378),  a  period  of  282 
years.  The  first  thirteen  books,  however,  are  lost,  so  that 
the  extant  work  embraces  only  twenty-five  years  prior  to  the 
death  of  Valens. 

Ammianus  was  a  soldier  first  and  foremost  and  was  chiefly 
concerned  with  deeds  of  war.  Nearly  all  his  statements 
about  military  matters  appear  to  be  founded  on  his  own  ob- 
servations or  upon  information  derived  from  trustworthy 
eye-witnesses,  and  he  is  the  best  guide  to  the  Germanic  cam- 
paigns of  Constantius  II,  Julian,  Valentinian,  Gratian  and 
Valens.  The  following  extract  may  illustrate  the  grasp  of 
Ammianus  on  his  subject  and  his  clarity  and  sanity  of  de- 
scription. It  relates  to  the  eflforts  of  Constantius  to  repress 
the  Sarmatians  and  Quadi :  ^ 

While  the  emperor  was  passing  the  winter  quietly  at  Sirmium,' 
he  received  frequent  and  grave  tidings  that  the  Sarmatians 
and  the  Quadi,  two  tribes  contiguous  to  each  other,  and  similar 
in  manners  and  mode  of  warfare,  were  conjointly  raiding  Pan- 
nonia  and  the  second  Moesia,  in  straggling  detachments. 

1  The  Teubner  text  of  Ammianus  is  edited  by  V.  Gardthausen 
(Leipzig,  1874).  There  is  an  English  translation  in  the  Bohn  Classical 
Library  by  C.  D.  Yonge  (London,  1862). 

2  A.  D.  358.     Ammianus,  xvii,  12. 

•  In  Lower  Pannonia.    Modern  Widdin? 


467]      NARRATIVE  SOURCES  OF  EARLY  CENTURIES        61 

These  tribes  are  more  suited  to  robbery  than  to  regular 
war;  they  carry  long  spears,  and  wear  breastplates  made  of 
scraped  and  polished  horn,  tucked  into  linen  jackets,  so  that 
the  layers  of  horn  are  like  the  feathers  of  a  bird.  They  ride 
over  vast  spaces  whether  in  pursuit  or  in  retreat,  their  horses 
being  swift  and  manageable;  and  they  take  with  them  one  or 
sometimes  two  spare  chargers  apiece,  in  order  that  the  change 
may  keep  up  the  strength  of  the  beasts  and  their  vigor  be 
preserved  by  alternations  of  rest. 

The  Sarmatians  were  pronounced  independent  of  any  other 
power,  as  having  been  always  vassals  of  the  Romans ;  and  they 
willingly  embraced  the  proposal  of  giving  hostages  as  a  pledge 
of  the  maintenance  of  peace.  .  .  .  There  were  formerly 
natives  of  this  kingdom,  of  noble  birth  and  powerful,  but  a 
secret  conspiracy  armed  their  slaves  against  them ;  and  as 
among  barbarians  all  right  consists  in  might,  they,  being  equal 
to  their  masters  in  ferocity,  and  superior  in  number,  completely 
overcame  them.  The  nobles  losing  all  their  prudence  in  their 
fear,  fled  to  the  Victohali  [a  tribe  of  Goths],  afar  off,  thinking 
it  better  in  the  choice  of  evils  to  become  subject  to  their  pro- 
tectors than  slaves  to  their  own  servants.  But  after  they  had 
obtained  pardon  from  us,  and  been  received  as  faithful  allies, 
they  sorrowfully  besought  our  direct  protection.  Moved  by 
the  undeserved  hardships  of  their  lot,  the  emperor,  in  the 
presence  of  the  army,  addressed  them  assembled  before  him 
with  kind  words  and  commanded  them  to  own  no  masters  save 
himself  and  the  Roman  generals.  And  that  the  restoration  of 
their  liberty  might  carry  with  it  additional  dignity,  he  made 
Zizais  their  king,  a  man,  as  the  event  proved,  deserving  the 
rewards  of  eminent  fortune  and  faithful.  After  these  glorious 
deeds  no  one  was  allowed  to  depart  till  all  our  prisoners  had 
returned,  as  we  had  before  insisted     .     .     . 

Ammianus,  in  the  midst  of  his  military  chronicle,  intro- 
duces from  time  to  time  highly  interesting  and  valuable 
digressions.  Such  are  his  notices  of  the  institutions  and 
customs  of  the  Scythians  and  Sarmatians  (XVII,  12),  of 


62  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [468 

the  Huns  and  Alani  (XXXI,  2),  and  his  geographical  dis- 
cussions upon  Gaul  (XV,  9),  Pontus(XXII,  8)  and  Thrace 
(XXVII,  4).     His  description  of  the  Alani  is  as  follows : 

They  are  a  people  who,  though  widely  separated,  wander  like 
nomads  over  enormous  districts,  and  who,  united  in  the  course 
of  time  under  one  name,  are  collectively  called  Alani.  .  .  . 
They  have  no  huts,  and  never  use  the  plough,  but  live  on 
meat  and  plenty  of  milk,  and  mounted  on  wagons,  which  are 
covered  with  curved-bark  awnings,  they  drive  through  bound- 
less deserts.  And  when  they  come  to  pasture-land,  they  pitch 
their  wagons  in  a  circle,  and  live  like  a  herd  of  beasts,  eating 
up  all  the  forage — carrying  their  cities,  as  it  were,  on  wagons. 
In  them  the  husbands  sleep  with  their  wives — in  them  their 
children  are  born  and  reared ;  they  are  in  short  their  perpetual 
habitation,  and  wherever  they  go,  that  place  they  look  upon  as 
their  true  home.  They  feed  their  flocks  and  herds  as  they 
go ;  and  they  are  especially  careful  of  their  horses.  The  fields 
there  are  always  green,  and  are  interspersed  with  patches  of 
fruit  trees,  so  that,  wherever  they  go,  there  is  no  dearth  of 
food  or  fodder.  This  is  caused  by  the  moisture  of  the  soil 
and  the  numerous  rivers  which  flow  through  these  districts. 
All  their  old  people,  and  especially  all  the  weaker  sex,  keep 
close  to  the  wagons,  and  occupy  themselves  with  light  work. 
But  the  young  men,  who  from  earliest  childhood  are  trained 
to  the  use  of  horses,  think  it  beneath  them  to  walk.  They  are 
also  all  trained  by  varied  discipline  to  become  skilful  warriors. 
And  this  is  the  reason  why  the  Persians,  who  were  originally 
of  Scythian  extraction,  are  very  skilful  in  war. 

Nearly  all  the  Alani  are  tall  and  handsome;  their  hair  is 
somewhat  yellow,  their  eyes  are  terribly  fierce;  the  lightness 
of  their  armor  renders  them  quick;  and  they  are  in  every 
respect  almost  equal  to  the  Huns,  being  even  more  civilized  in 
their  food  and  manners.  They  plunder  and  hunt  as  far  as  the 
Sea  of  Azov  and  the  Cimmerian  Bosphorus,  ravaging  also 
Armenia  and  Media.  And  as  ease  is  a  delightful  thing  to  men 
of  a  quiet  and  placid  disposition,  so  danger  and  war  are  a 


469]      NARRATIVE  SOURCES  OP  EARLY  CENTURIES        63 

pleasure  to  the  Alani,  and  that  man  among  them  is  judged 
happy  who  has  lost  his  life  in  battle.  For  those  who  grow  old, 
or  who  go  out  of  the  world  by  accidental  death,  they  pursue 
with  bitter  reproaches  as  degenerate  and  cowardly.  Nor  is 
there  anything  of  which  they  boast  with  more  pride  than  of 
having  killed  a  man:  and  as  glorious  spoils  they  esteem  the 
scalps  which  they  have  torn  from  the  heads  of  the  slain,  and 
with  which  they  adorn  their  war-horses.  Nor  is  there  any 
temple  or  shrine  seen  in  their  country,  nor  even  any  cabin 
thatched  with  straw,  but  a  naked  sword  is  plunged  into  the 
ground  with  barbaric  ceremonies,  and  that  they  worship  with 
great  respect,  as  Mars,  the  presiding  deity  of  the  regions  over 
which  they  wander.  They  foretell  the  future  in  a  remarkable 
manner ;  for  collecting  a  number  of  straight  twigs  of  osier,  and 
separating  them  with  certain  secret  incantations  at  an  ap- 
pointed time,  they  learn  clearly  what  is  about  to  happen.  They 
have  no  idea  of  slavery,  inasmuch  as  they  themselves  are  all 
born  of  noble  families ;  and  the  "  judges "  they  even  now 
elect  are  men  of  proved  experience  in  war     .     .     .^ 

Ammianus  appears  to  have  no  particular  bias.  Though 
probably  a  pagan,  he  never  speaks  disrespectfully  of  Chris- 
tianity; though  a  warm  admirer  of  Julian,  he  is  frank  in 
criticizing  the  shortcomings  of  that  prince ;  "^  though  a  Latin 
writer,  he  admires  the  Greeks;  and  though  a  soldier  in  the 
east,  he  writes  well  of  the  expeditions  in  the  west.  He 
is  interested,  though  not  always  judiciously,  in  geological 
speculations  upon  earthquakes,  in  astronomical  inquiries 
into  eclipses  and  comets,  in  zoological  theories  on  the  de- 
struction of  lions  by  mosquitos,  in  medical  researches  into 
the  origin  of  epidemics.  Above  all,  Ammianus  has  a  liberal 
share  of  common  sense. 

1  xxxi,  2,  17-25. 

- "  His  forbidding  masters  of  rhetoric  and  grammar  to  instruct 
Christians  was  a  cruel  action  and  one  deserving  to  be  buried  in  ever- 
lasting silence." — xxii,  10. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Relations  of  the  Germans  to  the  Empire  from  Julius 
Caesar  to  Theodosius  the  Great 

The  sources  so  far  treated  tell  a  very  imperfect  story  of 
the  Germans  and  their  contact  with  the  empire  during  four 
centuries.  In  some  cases,  the  deficiencies  of  the  story  can 
be  supplied  by  later  sources, — always  a  dangerous  practice. 
A  rapid  survey  in  this  chapter  of  the  relations  between  the 
Romans  and  their  northern  neighbors  from  the  time  of 
Julius  Caesar  to  the  close  of  the  history  of  Ammianus  Mar- 
cellinus  may  suffice  \to  give  some  idea  of  how  a  great 
variety  of  sources  ^  have  to  be  patched  together  in  order  to 
admit  of  anything  like  a  connected  narrative. 

Caesar  himself,  as  we  have  seen,  made  two  short  expedi- 
tions across  the  Rhine,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  he 
used  Germans  in  some  of  the  hardest  fights  of  the  Gallic 
war  ^  as  well  as  at  Pharsalus,  Alexandria  and  Philippi.* 
Ravages  along  the  Rhine  occurred  in  30  or  29  B.  C*  and 
Augustus  undertook  not  only  to  safeguard  the  Rhine  bound- 
ary but  to  erect  a  Roman  province  on  the  other  side.  His 
generals,  Agrippa,  Lollius  Paulinus,  Drusus,  and  Tiberius,"^ 
contended  with  varying  success  against  the  Germans,  but 

*  Some  of  the  sources  mentioned  in  the  foot-notes  of  this  chapter 
are  treated  in  following  chapters. 

2  Commentaries  on  the  Gallic  War,  vii,  67,  70,  80. 

8  Appian,  ii,  64.  *  Dio  Cassius,  li,  21. 

5  The  principal  sources  for  these  campaigns  are  Dio  Cassius,  Tacitus, . 
Velleius  Paterculus  and  Florus. 

64  [470 


471  ]        RELATIONS  OF  GERMANS  TO  THE  EMPIRE  65 

the  defeat  of  Varus  by  the  Roman-educated  Arminius  broke 
down  the  headship  of  Augustus  in  Germany.  The  efforts 
of  Augustus,  however,  were  far  from  fruitless,  for  two 
Roman  provinces,  the  Upper  and  Lower  Germany,  were 
formed  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  and  there  arose  im- 
portant trading  towns. 

>  Under   Tiberius,   the   defeat   of   Varus   was   completely 

avenged  by  Germanicus,  but  thenceforth  the  emperor  aimed 
merely  to  keep  the  Germans  at  home  in  peace  and  to  prevent 
hostile  incursions  into  the  empire.     During  the  reigns  of 

^  •  Claudius  and  Nero,  we  read  of  constant  unrest,  of  broils 

among  the  Germans,   and  of  appeals  for  grants  of  land 

within  the  empire.     Germans  took  an  active  part  in  the 

-) ,  civil  wars  which  followed  the  death  of  Nero.     Vitellius  had 

<   German  auxiliaries  in  his  army,^  and  Vespasian  took  into 

■ '  his  service  two  kings  of  the  Suevi  "  whose  old  obedience  to 

Rome  he  knew."  "     The  Suevi,  in  fact,  fought  in  the  first 

ranks  at  the  battle  of  Cremona.^     At  the  same  time,  the 

^   Batavian  Civilis  caused  a  defection  of  eight  cohorts,  brought 

a  German  army  into  Gaul,  and  occupied  Trier  and  Langres, 

but  was  finally  glad  to  return  to  the  islands  in  the  Rhine  as 

an  ally  of  the  commonwealth.* 

Even  in  this  earlier  period  of  the  principate  we  find  Ger- 
man settlements  within  the  empire  and  German  troops 
serving  beside  the  legions.  Tiberius  from  one  of  his  ex- 
peditions led  back  forty  thousand  Germans,  to  whom  he 
"  assigned  lands  to  cultivate  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine."  ^ 
Tacitus  mentions  the  Batavians  and  Mattiaci  who  entered 
the  empire  as  subjects."     There  were  also  German  cohorts 

1  Tacitus,  //Jjfory,  i,  61.  ^  Ihid.,  m,  S-  ^  Ibid.,  i\\,  21. 

*  The  account  of  this  enterprise  fills  a  great  part  of  the  fourth  and 
fifth  books  of  the  History  of  Tacitus. 

^  Suetonius,  Tiberius,  9.  *^  Tacitus,  Germania,  29. 


66  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [472 

in  Italy  and  even  at  Rome.  There  were  some  in  the  im- 
perial guards  bivouacked  in  the  palace  who  were  always 
faithful/ 

A  wall  against  the  Germans  had  been  built  by  Drusus 
along  the  Rhine.  Domitian  went  further  and  planned  to 
join  the  Rhine  with  the  Danube.  This  wall  Trajan  con- 
tinued and  Hadrian  seems  to  have  completed.  From 
Domitian  until  Marcus  Aurelius  the  Germans  were  fairly 
quiet,  although  we  find  immigrations  and  ravages  of 
Chauki  in  Belgium,  Chatti  in  Gaul,  and  Marcomanni 
crossing  the  Rhine,  to  the  last  of  whom  Trajan  granted 
lands  in  Dacia.^ 

Pressure  against  the  Roman  frontiers  was  renewed  to- 
wards the  middle  of  the  second  century.  Marcus  Aurelius 
struggled  twenty  years  against  the  barbarians.  Many  peo- 
ples "  pressed  by  other  barbarians,  asked  to  be  received  into 
the  empire,"  '  and  marched  to  Aquileia,  but  they  retreated 
on  the  approach  of  a  Roman  army,  and,  in  order  to  obtain 
peace,  massacred  such  of  their  chieftains  as  were  hostile  to 
the  empire.     The  Quadi  promised  to  submit  the  election  of 

1  Tacitus,  Annals,  i,  24;  xiii,  18;  xv,  58;  Suetonius,  Augustus,  49, 
Caligula,  55,  Nero,  34,  Galha,  12;  Dio  Cassius,  Ivi,  23;  Herodian,  iv, 
13.  6;  Julius  Capitolinus,  Maximus  and  Balbinus,  14. 

2  Trajan  made  several  expeditions  across  the  Danube  and  erected 
the  province  of  Dacia  north  of  that  river.  Trajan's  Dacia  must  be 
distinguished  from  "  Dacia  ripensis "  south  of  the  Danube,  a  province 
formed  at  a  much  later  date.     H.  Schiller  emphasizes  the  importance 

«>,  i  of  the  Dacian  War  in  transferring  the  military  center  of  the  empire, 
'y^^  I  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Danube  (H.  Schiller,  Geschichte  der  romischen 
'  Kaizerzeit,  vol.  i,  p.  554).  Trajan  wrote  a  work  on  his  expeditions, 
which  unfortunately  is  lost,  and  our  only  contemporary  sources  are 
monumental,  such  as  the  column  of  Trajan,  the  scenes  on  which  have 
been  published  in  fine  photographic  reproductions  by  G.  Arosa  &  C. 
E.  L.  W.  Froehner  (Paris,  1872-74). 

3  Julius  Capitolinus,  Marcus,  14,  17,  22,  72;  Dio  Cassius,  Ixxi,  11,  19, 
20. 


473]        RELATIONS  OF  GERMANS  TO  THE  EMPIRE  67 

their  king  to  the  emperor's  confirmation.  An  extensive 
struggle  against  the  Germans,  generally  called  the  Mar- 
^omamiic_War,  lasted  with  short  intervals  of  peace  from  167 
until  the  accession  of  Commodus  in  180.^  Many  peoples 
were  engaged:  Marcomanni,  Quadi,  Narisci,  Victohali, 
Hermunduri,  Buri,  Vandals  and  the  Sarmatian  lazyges. 
Marcus  Aurelius  was  generally  successful  and  settled  large 
numbers  of  conquered  barbarians  within  the  limits  of 
the  empire.^  Of  eight  thousand  lazyges  whom  he  enrolled 
in  his  army,  he  sent  a  large  part  to  Britain."''  He  admitted 
the  Astinges  to  Roman  soil  with  the  title  of  subjects  on 
condition  that  they  should  always  fight  the  enemies  of 
Rome.*  He  received  the  title  of  Germanicus,  for  the  Ro- 
mans applied  "  the  name  Germans  to  all  those  who  dwell  in 
the  northern  regions."  °  Marcus  Aurelius  habitually  em- 
ployed German  mercenaries,^  and  Commodus  followed  his 
example.^  It  was  later  a  German  in  the  imperial  body- 
guard who  struck  the  first  blow  at  Pertinax.* 

During  the  third  century,  the  barbarian  inroads  grew 
both  in  frequency  and  in  damage  inflicted.  The  Germans 
moved  into  the  empire  in  increasing  numbers.  From  the 
time  of  Commodus  to  that  of  Diocletian,  we  find  in  the  west 
all    the   territory   north   of   the    Rhine   abandoned   by    the 

1  On  the  war,  see  Julius  Capitolinus,  Marcus;  Dio  Cassius,  Ixxi,  3, 
5,  7,  11-21,  2>2>',  Ammianus,  xxxi,  5. 

2  They  were  settled  mainly  as  coloni,  for  an  admirable  account  of 
which,  see  B.  Heisterbergk,  Die  Entstehung  des  Kolonats  (Leipzig, 
1876). 

^  Dio  Cassius,  Ixxi,  ii,  16.  *  Dio  Cassius,  Ixxi,  12. 

•■^Dio  Cassius,  Ixxi,  3. 

«  Julius  Capitolinus,  Marcus,  21. 

^  Dio  Cassius,  Ixxiii,  2. 

*  Julius  Capitolinus,  Pertinax,  11.  . 


68  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [474 

emperors,  and  in  the  east  the  Goths  and  their  alhes  gradu- 
ally victorious  along  the  Danube. 

Caracalla  administered  a  check  to  the  Alamanni  in  213.^ 
Under  Alexander  Severus  (222-235),  Gaul  was  pillaged  by 
German  raiders,^  but  death  prevented  the  emperor  from 
going  to  the  rescue  of  his  provincials.  His  successor, 
Maximin  (235-238),  however,  continued  his  project,  pene- 
trated into  Germany,  "  burned  the  villages,  carried  off  the 
flocks,  killed  many  enemies,  led  away  innumerable  cap- 
tives." ^  A  little  later,  the  Carpi  plundered  the  country 
about  the  Ister  but  were  defeated  by  Philip  (241-249).* 

The  reign  of  Decius  (249-251)  was  marked  by  war 
with  the  Goths,  the  first  considerable  occasion  on  which 
that  people  appear  in  history.^  There  were  various  in- 
cursions and  attacks,  notably  the  sieges  of  Marcianopolis, 
the  capital  of  the  Second  Moesia,  and  of  Philippopolis  in 
Thrace,  and  finally  in  251  the  battle  of  Forum  Trebonii  in 
Scythia,  in  which  the  emperor  and  his  son  lost  their  lives. 
Gallus  made  peace  with  the  Goths,  permitting  them  to 
carry  off  all  the  plunder  and  the  noblest  captives,  besides 
engaging  to  pay  them  annually  a  large  sum  of  money.** 

1  Dio  Cassius,  Ixxvii,  12.  The  identification  of  the  Suevi  and  Ala- 
manni is  very  uncertain;  cf.  Gibbon,  vol.  i,  p.  258  (Bury's  edition), 
and  Bury's  note. 

2  Aelius  Lampridius,  Alexander  Severus,  59. 

8  Julius  Capitolinus,  Maximini,  12 ;  Herodian,  vii,  2. 

*  Zosimus,  i,  20. 

5  It  has  been  accepted  that  the  Goths  were  identical  with  the  Gut- 
tones  whom  Pliny  mentions  {Natural  History,  iv,  14),  and  with  the 
Gotones  of  Tacitus   {Germania,  43). 

«  The  main  authority  for  the  Gothic  wars  of  Decius  and  Gallus  is 
Dexippus,  who  held  office  in  Athens  at  the  time  and  commanded  a 
Roman  army,  and  who,  according  to  Trebellius  Pollio  {Gallienus, 
13),  was  a  "writer  as  well  as  a  general."  Photius,  patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople in  the  ninth  century,  says  that  Dexippus  wrote  a  history  of 


475]        RELATIONS  OF  GERMANS  TO  THE  EMPIRE  69 

Inroads  were  constant  throughout  the  troubled  reigns 
of  Valerian  (253-260)  and  Gallienus,  both  in  the  east  and 
in  the  west.  The  Franks  invaded  Gaul  about  256/  and 
the  provincials  could  not  prevent  them  "  from  traversing 
the  whole  of  Gaul  and  pillaging  it  and  penetrating  into 
Spain."  They  ravaged  Spain  for  twelve  years,  the  greater 
part  of  the  reign  of  Gallienus,  and  sacked  Tarragona,  the 
capital  of  the  province.^  Postumus  at  the  head  of  the 
armies  in  Gaul  at  length  endeavored  to  repress  the  invaders 
and  drive  them  beyond  the  Rhine,  but  his  death  was  the 
signal  for  new  incursions.  The  barbarians  took  and  burned 
several  cities  until  checked  by  Lollianus.  Then  came  Vic- 
torinus  and  Tetricus,  of  whom  it  is  said,  "  they  were  given 
by  Providence  to  prevent  the  Germans  from  seizing  the 
soil  of  the  empire."  ^  Meanwhile  (cca.  256-7)  the  Ala- 
manni  entered  Italy  and  after  advancing  as  far  as  Ravenna 
were  defeated  by  Gallienus.  Somewhat  later  (cca.  259-260), 
they  were  repulsed  from  Rome  by  the  senate  and  people, 
and,  being  attacked  by  the  emperor  on  their  retreat,  suf- 

Macedonia  from  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  a  chronicle  from 
earliest  times  to  A.  D.  268,  and  an  account  of  the  wars  with  the  Goths 
in  which  Dexippus  had  himself  fought.  Fragments  of  these  works, 
which  are  fairly  numerous,  have  appeared  in  the  Bonn  edition  and 
have  also  been  edited  by  C.  Miiller  in  Fragmenta  Historicorum  Graec- 
orutn,  vol.  iii.  Frag.  18  in  the  latter  describes  at  length  the  siege  of 
Marcianopolis,  and  frag.  20  an  ineffectual  siege  of  Philippopolis.  For 
the  battle  of  Forum  Trebonii  (modern  Dobrudza),  see  frag.  16, 
besides  Zosimus,  i,  23;  Jordanes,  18;  and  Zonaras,  xii,  20.  The  chron- 
icle of  Dexippus  was  continued  to  the  year  404  by  Eunapius  (see  infra, 
V-  89). 

1  The  first  time  that  we  hear  of  this  celebrated  confederacy, 
although  most  of  the  individual  tribes  which  composed  it  are  heard 
of  as  early  as  the  time  of  Augustus. 

-  Eutropius,  ix,  6;  Orosius,  vii,  22,  8. 

'  Trebellius  Pollio,  Gallienus,  4 ;  Tyranni  triginta,  5 ;  Eusebius, 
Chronicon,  a.  260. 


70  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [476 

J  fered  great  loss/  At  the  same  time  the  eastern  provinces 
were  similarly  troubled.  Goths  destroyed  Pityus  on  the  coast 
'  of  Circassia  (cca.  258),  and,  crossing  the  Black  Sea  in  boats, 
plundered  various  cities  of  Bithynia.  Later  they  made 
other  naval  expeditions  through  the  Bosphorus  and  the 
Aegean  Sea,  and  ravaged  Greece.  They  seem  to  have 
spared  the  Greek  monuments,-  but  their  fierce  attack  on 
Thessalonica  thoroughly  aroused  Illyricum  and  was  prob- 
ably the  immediate  cause  of  the  restoration  of  the  walls  of 
Athens.  The  barbarians  were  at  length  scattered  by  Gal- 
lienus,  and  a  chieftain  of  the  Heruli  entered  the  service  of 
Rome  with  a  large  body  of  his  countrymen,  and  was  in- 
vested with  the  ornaments  of  consular  rank.' 

Under  Claudius  II  (268-270)  the  eastern  provinces  suf- 
fered most  at  the  hands  of  the  Germans.  A  multitude  of 
Goths  and  other  tribes  again  embarked  on  ships,  apd,  sail- 

1 "  Alamanni,"  according  to  Gibbon,  was  a  collective  term  for  sev- 
eral different  tribes,  to  denote  at  once  their  various  lineage  and  their 
common  bravery,  from  an  etymology  preserved  by  Asinius  Quadratus, 
an  original  historian,  quoted  by  Agathias  (i,  5).  Mr.  Bury  suggests 
the  derivation  Alah-mannen,  "  men  of  the  sanctuary,"  referring  to 
the  wood  of  the  Semnones.  On  these  invasions  of  Italy,  see  Flavius 
Vopiscus,  Aurelianus,  18,  21;  Dexippus,  Fragmenta,  vol.  iii,  p.  682; 
Orosius,  vii,  22;  Zosimus,  i,  2>7'y  Zonaras,  xii,  24;  Eutropius,  ix,  8. 

2  Syncellus  mentions  the  presence  of  barbarians  at  Athens  (a.  267), 
and  Zonaras  (xii,  26)  seems  to  be  the  author  of  the  story  that  the 
libraries  were  spared  by  the  Goths  so  that  the  Greeks  in  the  future  as 
in  the  past  might  waste  their  manhood  in  poring  over  wearisome  vol- 
umes and  thus  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the  strong  unlettered  sons  of  the 
north.  Cf.  Dexippus,  Fragmenta,  5,  6.  The  chronicle  of  the  Byzantine 
monk  and  physician,  Georgius  Syncellus  (».  e.,  Private  Secretary),  ex- 
tending from  Adam  to  Diocletian,  was  prepared  as  late  as  the  end  of 
the  eighth  century.    Zonaras  wrote  in  the  twelfth  century. 

3  Trebellius  Pollio,  Gallienus,  13;  Zosimus,  i,  35-9;  Orosius,  vii,  22; 
Dexippus,  Fragment  21;  Zonaras,  xii,  26;  Sjmcellus,  vol.  i,  p.  717 
(Bonn  edition).  On  the  invasion  of  Greece,  cf.  Gregorovius,  Geschichte 
der  Stadt  Athen  im  Mittelalter  (1889),  vol.  i,  p.  16  et  seq. 


477]        RELATIONS  OF  GERMANS  TO  THE  EMPIRE  71 

ing  through  the  Black  and  Aegean  Seas,  attempted  an  ir- 
ruption into  the  empire  on  a  larger  scale  than  before;  but 
many  perished  in  shipwrecks,  many  were  overwhelmed  in 
the  mountains  near  Thessalonica,  and  the  rest,  after  ravag- 
ing Macedonia  for  some  time,  were  conquered  by  the  im- 
perial troops.  "All  who  survived  were  either  admitted 
into  the  Roman  legions  or  had  lands  assigned  them  to 
cultivate  and  so  became  husbandmen."  In  268  Claudius 
had  to  face  a  coalition  of  Alamanni,  Grethungi,  Tervingi 
and  other  nations ;  but  he  met  and  defeated  them  near  Lake 
Garda.  After  the  victories  of  the  emperor  and  his  lieu- 
tenants we  are  told  that  "  the  provinces  were  filled  with 
slaves  and  German  cultivators,  and  that  there  was  no 
country  where  Gothic  slaves  were  not  to  be  seen."  ^ 

AilTSl'^'^  (270-275)  stopped  an  irruption  of  Alamanni, 
and  defeated  the  Marcomanni  who  had  crossed  the  Alps 
and  reached  Milan,  and  are  thenceforth  heard  of  no  more.^ 
He  likewise  checked  expeditions  of  Goths  and  of  Vandals, 
with  the  latter  of  whom  he  concluded  a  treaty  by  which  the 
barbarians  engaged  to  supply  the  Roman  armies  with  two 
thousand  cavalry,  and  in  return  were  guaranteed  a  safe 
retreat  and  a  regular  market  at  the  Danube  provided  by 
the  emperor  but  supported  at  their  own  expense.'  It  was 
in  all  probability  Aurelian  who  finally  abandoned  the 
Dacian  province  north  of  the  Danube:  "  the  emperor  with- 
drew his  army  and  left  Dacia  to  the  provincials,  despairing 
of  being  able  to  retain  it,  and  the  peoples  led  forth  from 
thence  he  settled  in  Moesia,   and  made  there  a  province 

iZosimus  (i,  40-6)  deals  chiefly  with  the  maritime  invaders;  Tre- 
bellius  Pollio  {Claudius)  with  those  who  came  by  land.  Cf.  Eutropius, 
ix,  11;  Eusebius,  Chronicon;  Zonaras,  xii,  26. 

2  Vopiscus,  Probus,  12;  Aurelian,  18;  Ammianus,  xxxi,  5,  17;  Zosi- 
mus,  i,  49. 

'Vopiscus,  Aureh,  14,  15;  Dexippus,  p.  19,  Bonn  ed. ;  Zosimus,  i,  48. 


72  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [478 

which  he  called  his  own  Dacia,  and  which  now  divides  the 
two  Moesias."  ^ 

While  Tacitus  (275-276)  was  repulsing  the  Goths  in 
Asia,^  Gaul  was  incessantly  ravaged  and  sixty  towns  were 
occupied  by  Germans.  But  Probus  (276-282)  delivered  the 
hard-pressed  province  (277),  and  in  turn  invaded  the  coun- 
try of  the  Germans,  obtaining  so  many  coloni  that  he  could 
write  to  the  senate :  "Now  the  barbarians  labor  for  you,  sow 
for  you."  "  Probus,"  says  his  biographer,  "  took  as  much 
booty  in  Germany  as  Germans  had  seized  in  the  empire."  ^ 
Probus  made  an  alliance  with  the  Gothic  peoples  (278).* 
During  his  reign,  an  adventurous  expedition  of  Franks 
who  had  been  settled  on  the  seacoast  of  Pontus,  made  an 
all-water  trip  to  their  native  Frisian  shores,  plundering  as 
they  went.'*  Probus  transported  considerable  numbers  of 
Vandals  into  Britain ;  ®  and  a  hundred  thousand  Bastarnae 
cheerfully  accepted  an  establishment  in  Thrace,  and  lived 
in  accordance  with  Roman  laws  and  Roman  customs.^ 

Diocletian  (284-305)  received  the  title  of  "  Germanicus 
Maximus "  **  in  consequence  of  his  successes  against  the 
Germans  in  the  Danubian  provinces,  and  his  colleagues  were 
constantly  engaged  with  the  barbarians.  Maximian  checked 
ravages  in  Gaul  (286-7)  ^"<^  tven  regained  some  foothold 
beyond   the  Rhine,^  but  the  Franks  continued  to  pillage 

1  Vopiscus,  A  urelian,  39. 

2  Vopiscus,  Tacitus,  13;  Zosimus,  i,  62,;  Zonaras,  xii,  28. 

8  Vopiscus,  Probus,  13,  14,  15,  18;  Eutropius,  ix,  25;  Zosimus,  i,  67-8. 

*  Vopiscus,  Probus,  16. 

'^  Panegyr.  Vet.,  ed.  E.  Bahrens,  p.  145;  Zosimus,  i,  71. 

*  Zosimus,  i,  68. 

'^  Vopiscus,  Probus,  18;  Zosimus,  i,  71. 

8  Cf.  Corp.  Insc.  Lat.,  vi,  11 16.  ; 

9  Mamertinus,  Pan.  Max.,  5,  6,  10;  Genethl.  Max.,  17. 


479]        RELATIONS  OF  GERMANS  TO  THE  EMPIRE  73 

Rhenish  cities.^  Constantius  Chlorus  rebuilt  the  ruined 
towns  of  Autun  and  Trier,  settled  many  Frankish  coloni 
in  Gaul,  and  defeated  (298)  a  large  expedition  of  Ala- 
manni  who  had  penetrated  as  far  as  Langres.^  The  king 
of  the  Alamanni,  Crocus,  with  an  independent  body  of  his 
own  subjects,  later  became  an  ally  of  Constantius.^ 

Constantine's  administration  of  Gaul  (306-312)  was 
marked  by  a  signal  victory  over  the  Franks  and  Alamanni, 
several  of  whose  princes  were  exposed  by  his  order  to  the 
wild  beasts  of  the  amphitheatre.*  The  civil  wars  which 
filled  the  early  years  of  the  fourth  century  between  Con- 
stantine  and  Maxentius  and  Constantine  and  Licinius  con- 
tributed in  no  small  measure  to  the  numbers  and  power 
of  the  barbarians  within  the  empire.  The  army  of  Con- 
stantine at  the  battle  of  the  Milvian  Bridge  was  composed 
in  great  part  of  Germans.  Constantine  is  reproached  '^ 
for  having  changed  and  weakened  the  military  system 
of  the  empire  by  withdrawing  troops  from  the  forts  which 
Diocletian  had  established  on  the  frontiers,  in  order  to  sup- 
ply small  garrisons  for  the  cities  of  the  interior. 

In  331  Constantine  was  asked  by  Sarmatians  '  to  inter- 

1  Incert.  Pan.  Constant.  Caesar,  21 ;  Mamertinus,  Genethl.  Max.,  7. 

2  Mamertinus,  Pan.  Max.,  5 ;  Incert.  Pan.  Constantio  Caes.,  2,  3 ; 
Eusebius,  Chronicon,  a.  297. 

3  Victor  Junior,  Epitome,  41. 

*  Eutropius,  X,  3;  Panegyr.  Vet.,  vii,  10-12. 

^  By  Zosimus  (ii,  51),  who  is  deemed  decidedly  unfair  to  Constan- 
tine. 

"  It  used  to  be  supposed  that  "  Sarmatian  "  was  a  generic  name  for 
Slavonic  peoples,  but  it  is  more  than  doubtful  whether  the  Roman 
writers  felt  or  expressed  such  nice  distinctions.  The  work  of  Safarik 
(Slawische  Alterthiimer,  ed.  Wuttke,  vol.  i,  pp.  333  et  seq.)  has  settled 
almost  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  chief  Sarmatian  peoples  were  not  Sla- 
vonic. That  some  Slavonic  tribes  were  included  in  the  barbarian  set- 
tlements made  in  the  lUyrian  peninsula  by  Roman  emperors  of  the 


74  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [480 

vene  in  a  feud  existing-  between  them  and  the  Goths;  and 
the  emperor  defeated  the  Gothic  king  who  had  ventured 
to  enter  Moesia  the  following  year,  and  compelled  him  to 
agree  to  supply  the  imperial  armies  with  forty  thousand 
soldiers/  Constantine  later  had  trouble  with  the  Sar- 
matians,  accounts  of  which  are  confused  and  conflicting,^ 
although  it  is  clear  that  numbers  were  settled  within  the 
empire  and  that  the  emperor  himself  was  called  "  Sar- 
maticus." 

Immigration  increased  under  Constantius  II  (337-361), 
Franks,  Alamanni  and  Saxons,  perceiving  the  fords  of 
the  Rhine  unprotected,  penetrated  into  Gaul  and  took  forty 
towns  near  the  river.  Sarmatians  and  Quadi  plundered 
Pannonia  and  Upper  Moesia  without  opposition.^  The  em- 
peror undertook  an  expedition  against  the  Alamanni  in 
354  but  made  peace  on  easy  terms  because  "  his  fortune  was 
propitious  only  in  civil  troubles  and  when  foreign  wars 
were  undertaken  it  often  proved  disastrous."  * 

Constantius  was  agitated  by  frequent  intelligence  that  the 
Gallic  provinces  were  in  a  lamentable  condition  since  no  ade- 
quate resistance  could  be  made  to  the  barbarians  who  were  now 
laying  waste  the  whole  country.  And  after  deliberating  a  long 
time,  in  great  anxiety,  by  what  force  he  might  repel  these 
dangers  (himself  remaining  in  Italy,  as  he  thought  it  very 
dangerous  to  go  into  so  remote  a  country),  he  at  last  deter- 
mined on  the  wise  plan  of  associating  with  himself  in  the  cares 

third  and  fourth  centuries,  is  an  hypothesis  to  account  for  the  appear- 
ance of  Slavonic  names  in  the  Illyrian  provinces.  See  Jirecek,  Ge- 
schichte  der  Bulgaren. 

1  Zosimus,  ii,  21 ;  Jordanes,  ch.  21. 

2  Ammianus,  xvii,  12 ;  Eutropius,  x,  7 ;  Eusebius,  Vita  Constantini,  iv, 
6;  Anonymus  Valesianus,  i;  Sextus  Rufus,  De  Provinciis,  26;  Jerome, 
Chronicon;  and  the  historians  of  the  Church. 

8  Zosimus,  iii,  i.  *  Ammianus,  xiv,  10. 


48 1  ]        RELATIONS  OF  GERMANS  TO  THE  EMPIRE  75 

of  the  empire  his  cousin  Julian,  whom  he  had  some  time 
before  summoned  to  court,  and  who  still  retained  the  robe 
he  had  worn  in  the  Greek  schools.^ 

Thus  Julian  was  sent  into  Gaul  with  the  authority  of  a 
Caesar  ...  at  a  time  when  the  barbarians  had  stormed 
many  towns  and  were  besieging  others,  when  there  was  every- 
where direful  devastation,  and  when  the  Roman  empire  was 
tottering.  With  but  a  moderate  force  he  cut  off  vast  numbers 
of  Alamanni  at  Strasburg,^  a  Gallic  city,  took  prisoner  their 
famous  king  and  relieved  Gaul.  Many  other  honorable  achieve- 
ments were  afterwards  performed  by  Julian  against  the  bar- 
barians, the  Germans  being  driven  beyond  the  Rhine  and  the 
Roman  empire  extended  to  its  former  limits.' 

[Meanwhile  Constantius  suppressed  the  raids  of  the  Quadi 
and  Sarmatians  in  Moesia  and  Pannonia  and  prescribed  that 
they  should]  own  no  masters  save  himself  and  the  Roman 
generals.  And  that  the  restoration  of  their  liberty  might  carry 
with  it  additional  dignity,  he  made  Zizais  their  king,  a  man, 
as  developments  proved,  deserving  the  rewards  of  eminent 
fortune  and  faithful,* 

The  short  reign  of  Julian  after  the  death  of  Constantius 
and  the  shorter  reign  of  Jovian  (363-4)  were  occupied 
with  Persian  wars;  and  Valentinian  (364-375),  on  assum- 
ing imperial  power,  found  plenty  to  do  in  pacifying  the 
northern  barbarians.     One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  associate 

1  Ammianus,  xv,  8.    A.  D.  355. 

2  This  battle  is  described  by  Ammianus  in  great  detail,  xvi,  12.  For 
the  other  exploits  of  Julian  in  Gaul,  see  ibid.,  xvi-xxi.  Conditions  in 
Gaul  are  pictured  by  Julian  himself,  Oratio  ad  S.  P.  Q.  Athen.,  ed.  F. 
C.  Hertlein  (Leipzig,  1875-6);  and  also  by  Libanius,  Orat.,  x;  Sozo- 
men,  iii,  i ;  and  Zosimus,  iii,  3.  See  G.  Negri,  Julian  the  Apostate, 
trans,  from  Italian  by  Duchess  Litta-Visconti-Arese  (New  York, 
1905). 

'  Eutropius,  x,  14. 

*  Ammianus,  xvii,  12.  Constantius,  like  his  father,  assumed  the 
honorary  appellation  of  Sarmaticus. 


76  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [482 

his  brother  Valens  in  the  government,  giving  him  special 
control  of  the  eastern  provinces  while  he  himself  admin- 
istered the  western. 

Valentinian  straightway  visited  the  camps  and  cities  which 
were  situated  near  the  rivers,  and  repaired  to  Gaul,  then  ex- 
posed to  the  inroads  of  the  Alamanni,  who  had  begun  to  pluck 
up  their  courage  after  hearing  of  the  death  of  Julian.  Valen- 
tinian was  deservedly  dreaded  because  he  took  care  to  re- 
inforce his  army  and  fortified  both  banks  of  the  Rhine  with 
lofty  fortresses  and  castles,  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  ever 
passing  unperceived  into  our  territory.  We  may  pass  over  many 
things  he  did  with  the  authority  of  a  fully  established  governor, 
and  the  reforms  which  he  effected,  either  himself  or  through 
his  active  lieutenants.  After  he  had  raised  his  son  Gratian  to 
a  partnership  in  the  government,^  he  secretly  (since  he  could 
not  do  it  openly)  struck  down  Vithigabius,  the  king  of  the 
Alamanni  and  son  of  Vadomarius,^  a  young  man  in  the  first 
bloom  of  youth,  who  was  actively  stirring  up  the  tribes  to 
tumults  and  arms.  He  also  fought  against  the  Alamanni  near 
Solicinium,  where  he  was  nearly  circumvented  and  slain  in  an 
ambuscade,  but  was  at  last  able  to  destroy  their  whole  army 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  who  in  the  darknes's  saved  them- 
selves by  flight.  Amid  all  these  prudent  actions  Valentinian 
also  turned  his  attention  to  the  Saxons  who  had  lately  broken 
out  with  extreme  ferocity,  making  unexpected  attacks  in  every 

^  367.    Gratian  was  then  in  his  ninth  year. 

2  The  chieftain  Vadomarius  affords  an  excellent  example  of  the 
indifference  with  which  the  Germans  seem  to  have  fought  for,  or 
against,  Rome.  In  the  first  mention  of  him  (Ammianus,  xiv,  10),  we 
find  him  leading  incursions  of  Alamanni  into  Gaul.  A  few  years  later 
he  is  again  ravaging  the  Roman  frontier  until  seized  by  Julian's 
stratagem  (ibid.,  xxi,  3,  4).  We  next  hear  of  him  as  an  imperial 
officer  sent  by  Valens  in  365  with  a  body  of  troops  to  suppress  the 
revolt  of  Procopius  and  besiege  Nicaea  (xxvi,  8)  and  again  in  371  as 
duke  of  Phoenicia  fighting  valiantly  against  the  Persians  (xxix,  i). 


483]        RELATIONS  OF  GERMANS  TO  THE  EMPIRE  yy 

direction,  and  had  now  penetrated  into  the  inland  districts, 
from  which  they  were  returning  enriched  by  booty.  He  de- 
stroyed them  utterly  by  a  device,  treacherous  indeed,  but  ad- 
vantageous ;  and  he  recovered  by  force  all  the  plunder  which 
the  robbers  were  carrying  off.  He  also. revived  the  hopes  of  the 
Britons,  who  had  not  been  hitherto  successful  against  the  hosts 
of  enemies  overrunning  their  country;  and  he  reestablished 
liberty  and  lasting  peace  among  them,  so  that  scarcely  any  of 
the  invaders  could  even  return  to  their  own  country.  .  .  . 
Although  these  achievements,  which  we  have  here  recorded, 
were  consummated  by  the  assistance  of  his  admirable  generals,^ 
yet  it  is  well  understood  that  he  himself  also  performed  many 
exploits,  being  a  man  fertile  in  resources,  and  of  long  ex- 
perience and  great  skill  in  military  affairs;  and  certainly  it 
would  have  shone  the  brighter  among  his  deeds  if  he  had  been 
able  to  take  King  Macrianus  alive,  at  that  time  very  formidable ; 
nevertheless  he  exerted  great  energy  in  attempting  to  do  so, 
after  he  learned  with  sorrow  and  indignation  that  he  had  es- 
caped from  the  Burgundians,  whom  he  himself  had  led  against 
the  Alamanni.- 

VVhile  Valentinian  was  engaged  in  checking  barbarian 
inroads  in  the  western  provinces  of  the  empire,  his  brother 
Valens  was  concerned  with  the  Goths.  A  hundred  years 
earlier  Aurelian  had  allowed  the  Goths,  who  had  been  ravag- 
ing the  east  by  land  and  sea.  to  occupy  Dacia  north  of  the 

1  Prominent  among  these  generals  was  the  father  of  the  later  em- 
peror Theodosius,  commonly  called  Count  TheodQsms,  for  whose 
campaigns  in  Britain  and  against  the  Alamanni,  see  Ammianus,  xxviii, 
3.  5. 

2  Ammianus,  xxx,  7.  The  same  authority  gives  detailed  accounts 
of  Valentinian's  work  in  fortifying  the  Rhine  (xxviii,  2),  in  repulsing 
Alamanni  and  Burgundians  (xxvii,  10;  xxx,  3),  and  in  fighting  Saxons 
(xxviii,  2,  5).  The  emperor's  relations  with  the  Alaman  king,  Macri- 
anus, and  the  incursions  of  Sarmatians  and  Quadi  are  also  described 
(xxix,  4,  6;  xxx,  3,  5,  6). 


yS  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [484 

Danube  and  thenceforth  they  had  lived  under  their  own 
chieftains  in  nominal  subjection  to  the  commonwealth  and 
in  comparative  peace.  Now  the  Goths  had  been  so  un- 
fortunate as  to  favor  a  certain  Procopius,  an  unsuccessful 
aspirant  for  the  purple,  and  Valens  resolved  to  punish 
them.  "  To  excuse  their  conduct  by  a  valid  defence  they 
produced  letters  from  this  Procopius  which  alleged  that  he 
had  assumed  the  sovereignty  as  his  due  as  the  nearest  rela- 
tive of  Constantine."  ^  The  excuse  was  not  accepted,  but 
after  three  years'  intermittent  campaigns  (367-9)  a  peace 
was  negotiated.'  Peace  for  the  Goths  was  shortlived,  how- 
ever, for  hardly  had  they  concluded  the  treaty  with  Valens 
when  they  were  attacked  by  the  Huns,  who  came  from  the 
northeast.  "  This  latter  active  and  indomitable  race,  ex- 
cited by  an  unrestrained  desire  of  plundering  the  posses- 
sions of  others,  went  on  ravaging  and  slaughtering  all  the 
tribes  in  their  neighborhood  until  they  reached  the  Alani 
.  .  .  with  whom  they  finally  made  a  treaty  of  friendship 
and  alliance."  ^  The  allies  then  attacked  the  German  peo- 
ples to  the  west,  and  the  Goths,  filled  with  fear,  entreated 
Valens  to  be  received  by  him  as  subjects,  promising  to  live 
quietly  and  to  furnish  a  body  of  auxiliary  troops  if  neces- 
sary.    The  emperor  dispatched  officers 

to  bring  this  ferocious  people  and  their  carts  into  our  country. 
And  such  great  pains  were  taken  to  gratify  this  nation  which 
was  destined  to  overthrow  the  Roman  state  that  not  one  was 

1  Ammianus,  xxvii,  5. 

2  Shortly  after  the  treaty,  Athanaric,  a  Gothic  chieftain  who  had 
formerly  stated  "  that  he  was  bound  by  a  most  dreadful  oath  and  by 
his  father's  commands  never  to  set  foot  on  Roman  soil,"  went  to  Con- 
stantinople, "being  driven  from  his  native  land  by  a  faction  among 
his  kinsmen,  and  he  died  there  and  was  buried  with  splendid  cere- 
mony according  to  our  rites."     Ammianus,  xxvii,  5. 

3  Ammianus,  xxxi,  2. 


485]        RELATIONS  OF  GERMANS  TO  THE  EMPIRE  79 

left  behind,  not  even  of  those  who  were  stricken  with  mortal 
disease.  Moreover,  so  soon  as  they  had  obtained  permission 
of  the  emperor  to  cross  the  Danube  and  to  cultivate  some  dis- 
tricts of  Thrace,  they  poured  across  the  stream  day  and  night, 
without  ceasing,  embarking  in  troops  on  board  ships  and  rafts 
and  on  canoes  made  of  the  hollow  trunks  of  trees. ^ 

The  immanence  of  our  danger  manifestly  called  for  generals 
already  illustrious  for  their  past  achievements  in  war;  but 
nevertheless,  as  if  some  unpropitious  deity  had  made  the  selec- 
tion, the  men  who  were  sought  out  for  the  chief  military  ap- 
pointments were  of  tainted  character.  The  chief  among  them 
were  Lupicinus  and  Maximus, — the  one  being  count  of  Thrace, 
the  other  a  leader  notoriously  wicked, — both  men  of  great 
ignorance  and  rashness.  Their  treacherous  covetousness  was 
the  cause  of  all  our  disasters,  .  .  .  for  when  the  bar- 
barians who  had  been  conducted  across  the  river  were  in 
great  distress  from  want  of  provisions,  those  detested  generals 
conceived  the  idea  of  a  most  disgraceful  traffic;  and  having 
collected  dogs  from  all  quarters  with  the  most  insatiable 
rapacity,  they  exchanged  them  for  an  equal  number  of  slaves, 
among  whom  were  several  sons  of  men  of  noble  birth.^ 

These  and  like  corrupt  practices  on  the  part  of  the  gov- 
ernment officials  at  lengfth  aroused  the  Gothic  chieftain 
Fritigern  to  je.vnlt..: 

The  standards  of  war  were  raised  according  to  custom  and  the 
trumpets  poured  forth  sounds  of  evil  omen,  while  predatory 
bands  collected,  plundering  and  burning  villas  and  alarming 
everyone  by  their  dreadful  devastations.  [Lupicinus,  who 
rashly  attacked  them,  was  defeated  and]  the  enemies,  clothing 
themselves  in  Roman  armor,  pushed  on  their  raid  without 
hindrance.' 

Here  the  historian  pauses  to  refute  those  who  affirm  that 

1  Arnmianus,  xxxi,  4.    A.  D.  376. 

2  Ibid.,  xxxi,  4.  '  Ibid. 


8o  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [486 

the  commonwealth  was  never  before  so  overwhelmed  by 
adverse  fortune  and  to  remind  them  of  the  Teutones  and 
Cimbri,  of  the  incursions  during  the  reign  of  Marcus 
Aurelius  and  of  many  other  similar  calamities. 

While  Fritigern  was  in  revolt,  certain  Goths  at  Adria- 
nople,  who  were  ill-treated  by  the  Romans,  joined  him,  and 
the  united  forces  made  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  take  that 
city  by  siege.^     They  turned  then  to  ravage  Thrace,  being 

greatly  encouraged  by  this  circumstance,  that  a  multitude  of 
their  nation  came  in  daily  who  had  formerly  been  sold  as 
slaves  by  the  merchants,  with  many  others  who  at  the  first 
passage  of  the  river,  when  they  were  suffering  from  severe 
want,  had  been  bartered  for  a  little  bad  wine  or  a  few  morsels 
of  bread.  To  these  were  added  no  small  number  of  men 
skilled  in  tracing  out  veins  of  gold,  but  who  were  unable  to 
endure  the  heavy  burden  of  their  taxes ;  and  who,  having  been 
received  with  the  cheerful  consent  of  all,  were  of  great  use  to 
them  while  traversing  strange  districts — showing  them  the 
secret  stores  of  grain,  the  retreats  of  men,  and  other  hiding- 
places  of  divers  kinds.  Under  their  guidance,  nothing  re- 
mained untouched  except  what  was  inaccessible  or  wholly  out 
of  the  way;  for  without  any  distinction  of  age  or  sex  they 
went  forward  destroying  everything  in  one  vast  slaughter  and 
conflagration :  tearing  infants  even  from  their  mother's  breast 
and  slaying  them;  ravishing  the  mothers;  slaughtering 
women's  husbands  before  the  eyes  of  those  whom  they  thus 
made  widows;  while  boys  of  tender  and  of  adult  age  were 
dragged  over  the  corpses  of  their  parents.  Numbers  of  old 
men,  finally,  crying  out  that  they  had  lived  long  enough,  having 
lost  all  their  wealth,  together  with  beautiful  women,  had  their 
hands  bound  behind  their  backs,  and  were  driven  into  banish- 
ment, bewailing  the  ashes  of  their  native  homes.^ 

This  was  the  motley  throng  against  whom  Valens  prepared 
1  Ammianus,  xxxi,  6.  '  Ibid. 


487]        RELATIONS  OF  GERMANS  TO  THE  EMPIRE  gl 

to  lead  his  army/  His  lieutenants  were  unable  to  expel 
the  Goths  from  Thrace  in  377  and  in  the  following  year, 
without  waiting  the  arrival  of  Gratian  ^  from  the  west,  he 
engaged  the  barbarians  outside  the  walls  of  Adrianople  and 
lost  his  life. 

Except  the  battle  of  Cannae,  no  such  slaughter  is  recorded  in 
our  annals,  though  even  in  the  times  of  prosperity,  the  Romans 
have  sometimes  had  to  deplore  the  uncertainty  of  war,  and 
temporary  evils,  while  well-known  dirges  of  the  Greeks  have 
bewailed  many  disastrous  battles.^ 

The  battle  of  Adrianople  was  not  decisive,  however, 
in  immediate  results,  and  the  death  of  Valens  does  not  seem 
to  be  more  significant  than  the  death  of  Decius  over  a  cen- 
tury previously.  The  Goths  followed  up  their  victory 
but  failed  to  take  Adrianople  by  siege;  their  subsequent 
effort  to  capture  Constantinople  was  likewise  a  failure. 

Then  having  sustained  greater  losses  than  they  had  inflicted 
they  roamed  at  random  over  the  northern  provinces,  which 
they  traversed  without  restraint  as  far  as  the  foot  of  the  Julian 
Alps,  which  the  ancients  used  to  call  the  Venetian  Alps. 

At  this  time  the  efficiency  of  Julius,  Master  of  the  Soldiery 
on  the  other  side  of  Mount  Taurus,  was  particularly  prompt 
and  salutary ;  for  when  he  learned  what  had  happened  in 
Thrace,  he  sent  secret  letters  to  all  the  governors  of  the  dif- 
ferent cities  and  forts,  who  were  all  Romans — which  at  this 
time  is  rare, — requesting  them,  on  one  and  the  same  day,  at  a 
concerted  signal,  to  put  to  death  all  the  Goths  who  had  pre- 
viously been  admitted  into  the  places  under  their  charge,  first 
luring  them  into  the  suburbs  in  the  expectation  of  receiving 
promised  pay.  This  wise  plan  was  carried  out  without  any 
disturbance  or  delay,  and  the  eastern  provinces  were  delivered 
from  great  dangers.* 

1  The  events  which  led  up  to  the  battle  of  Adrianople  and  a  vivid 
description  of  the  battle  itself  are  given  by  Ammianus  in  Book  xxxi. 
^  Gratian  had  recently  defeated  the  Alamanni.     Ammianus,  xxxi,  10. 
3  Ammianus,  xxxi,  13.  *  Ibid.,  xxxi,  16. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

General  Character  of  the  Germanic  Invasions 

Although  the  battle  of  Adrianople  and  the  death  of 
Valens  are  not  epochal  in  the  history  of  the  relations  between 
Romans  and  barbarians,  they  mark  a  distinct  transition  in 
the  quality  of  the  sources.  That  is  probably  why  Gibbon, 
and  following  him,  many  writers  of  text  books  have  seen 
fit  to  emphasize  out  of  all  proportion  the  events  of  the  year 
378.  The  sources  from  Julius  Caesar  to  Ammianus,  frag- 
mentary and  poor  as  they  often  are,  are  infinitely  better 
than  the  sources  for  the  great  Germanic  movements  of  the 
fifth  and  sixth  centuries  by  which  the  western  provinces 
were  gradually  to  dissolve.  Gibbon  felt  this  especially  in 
the  case  of  Ammianus,  to  whom  he  pays  the  often  quoted 
tribute : 

It  is  not  without  the  most  sincere  regret  that  I  must  now  take 
leave  of  an  accurate  and  faithful  guide,  who  has  composed  the 
history  of  his  own  times  without  indulging  the  prejudices  and 
passions  which  usually  affect  the  mind  of  a  contemporary.  Am- 
mianus Marcellinus,  who  terminates  his  useful  work  with  the 
defeat  and  death  of  Valens,  recommends  the  more  glorious  sub- 
ject of  the  ensuing  reign  to  the  youthful  vigor  and  eloquence  of 
the  rising  generation.  The  rising  generation  was  not  disposed  to 
accept  his  advice  or  to  imitate  his  example;  and,  in  the  study 
of  the  reign  of  Theodosius,  we  are  reduced  to  illustrate  the 
partial  narrative  of  Zosimus  by  the  obscure  hints  of  fragments 
and  chronicles,  by  the  figurative  style  of  poetry  or  panegyric, 
and  by  the  precarious  assistance  of  the  ecclesiastical  writers 
82  [488 


i 


489]        GENERAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  INVASIONS         83 

who,  in  the  heat  of  religious  faction,  are  apt  to  despise  the 
profane  virtues  of  sincerity  and  moderation.  Conscious  of 
these  disadvantages,  which  will  continue  to  involve  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  I 
shall  proceed  with  doubtful  and  timorous  steps. ^ 

The  sources  which  treat  of  the  Germanic  movements  from 
the  time  of  Julius  Caesar  to  that  of  Theodosius  the  Great 
consider  them  in  the  main  as  purely  incidental.  The  his- 
torians are  not  absorbed  in  study  of  the  blue-eyed,  yellow- 
haired  northerners :  their  prime  interest  is  imperial  achieve- 
ment, civil  war,  home  affairs;  and  they  would  no  more 
think  of  giving  the  fateful  barbarians  first  place  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  empire  than  an  English  historian  would  center 
his  country's  development  about  British  military  exploits 
on  the  frontier  of  India,  or  than  an  American  writer  would 
make  the  immigration  of  Italians  and  Hungarians  the  para- 
mount factor  in  the  history  of  the  United  States.  Nor  do 
these  historians  find  it  necessary  to  deal  at  length  with  the 
causes  of  Germanic  immigration.  It  was  the  usual  thing  to 
have  barbarians,  German  or  other,  living  within  the  em- 
pire, and  the  causes  were  doubtless  too  familiar  and  too 
obvious  to  the  Roman  citizens  to  merit  explanation.  Mod- 
ern scholars  have  therefore  had  to  read  between  the  lines 
in  explaining  the  motives  of  the  immigration.  Sometimes 
they  have  read  there  too  much.  For  example,  it  has  been 
contended  that  race  hatred  existed  between  Romans  and 
Germans ;  but  "  Roman  "  was  hardly  a  racial  designation 
and  the  barbarians  seem  to  have  been  fully  as  zealous  to 
fight  one  another  as  to  engage  the  imperial  citizens.  It  has 
likewise  been  contended  that  the  main  cause  was  excess  of 

1  Bury's  edition,  vol.  iii,  p.  122.  Hodgkin  is  more  sweeping  but  also 
within  the  bounds  of  truth  in  his  condemnation  of  the  sources  for  the 
period  of  the  invasions,  Italy  and  her  Invaders,  vol.  ii,  pp.  299-303. 


84  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [490 

population  among  the  Germans,  but  sociologists  have  de- 
monstrated that  fecundity  is  not  a  trait  of  peoples  in  like 
stage  of  development. 

The  causes  of  the  migrations  were  diverse  and  complex. 
Desire  to  improve  material  conditions  was  doubtless  the 
chief.  With  this  in  view,  warrior  bands  plundered  the  pro- 
vincials, and  at  the  same  time  whole  tribes  sought  peace  and 
plenty  in  the  southern  lands  under  protection  of  the  com- 
monwealth. No  doubt  the  love  of  adventure  and  fond- 
ness for  brigandage  animated  the  Germanic  peoples  to  a 
great  extent,  but  there  was  also  a  glamor  for  the  barbarians 
about  the  empire  and  its  institutions :  desire  to  live 
under  them  and  profit  by  them.  We  are  prone  to 
make  the  problem  of  the  Germanic  migrations  too  diffi- 
cult. We  must  remember  that  peoples  of  primitive  civili- 
zation bordered  on  peoples  who  were  more  highly  developed, 
who  inhabited  fertile  lands,  and  who  lived  in  comparative 
prosperity  and  peace.  The  result  was  inevitable.  It  was 
unstable  life  arrayed  in  all  the  forms  of  instability  against 
sedentary  life  and  settled  conditions. 

Armed  invasion  was,  however,  but  one  of  the  forms  of 
Germanic  immigration.  To  supply  the  great  need  of 
farm  hands  consequent  on  the  decrease  of  rural  popula- 
tion in  the  empire,  many  captive  Germans,  led  back 
into  the  empire  in  the  space  of  the  four  centuries  during 
which  Roman  armies  penetrated  into  Germany,  were  either 
made  slaves  outright  or  attached  to  the  soil  as  coloni. 
Moreover,  there  was  at  all  times  a  commerce  in  slaves  be- 
tween the  provinces  and  Germany,  by  means  of  which 
many  barbarians  were  forced  to  move  within  the  empire.' 

'•Ammianus  mentions  in  several  passages  the  merchants  who  sup- 
plied Gaul  and  Thrace  with  German  slaves  (xxii,  7,  8;  xxix,  4,  4; 
xxxi,  6,  5).    Tacitus  had  already  noted  the  German  custom  of  selling 


491]        GENERAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  INVASIONS         85 

Germans  entered  the  empire,  too,  to  serve  in  the  Roman 
army,  sometimes  forced  ^  and  sometimes  of  their  own  ac- 
cord.^ The  sources  often  intimate  that  barbarian  troops 
were  dishked  by  the  population  and  that  the  imperial  gov- 
ernment was  reproached  for  being  too  favorable  to  these  \/ 
foreigners.^  From  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  the  bar- 
barian troops  became  increasingly  troublesome  and  took 
active  part  in  the  chronic  civil  wars,  but  they  were  to  be 
found,  like  the  Romans  themselves,  fighting  this  or  that 
aspirant  to  the  imperial  purple,  not  fighting  the  empire  itself. 

Thus  the  entrance  of  the  Germans  into  the  empire,  ac- 
cording to  the  sources,  was  not  a  single  event  under  a 
single  form  and  from  a  single  motive.  It  was,  on  the  con- 
trary, a  very  complex  series  of  events,  accomplished  only  after 
the  lapse  of  several  centuries.  The  Germans  entered  the  em- 
pire from  a  variety  of  motives  and  in  a  multiplicity  of  ways. 
They  came  as  pirates  and  ravagers;  they  came  in  warrior 
bands  because  they  found  pleasure  in  fighting;  they  came  as 
immigrants  and  settlers ;  they  came  to  take  military  or  civil 

slaves  to  foreigners  {Germania,  24),  and  in  the  Life  of  Agricola  (28) 
there  is  the  case  of  Usipians  sold  by  Suevi.  The  sources  give  few 
instances  of  barbarian  slaves  joining  their  invading  countrymen,  such 
as  the  Goths  in  Thrace  (Ammianus,  xxxi,  6,.  5)  and  Alaric  at  Rome 
(Zosimus,  v,  42). 

1  The  idea  of  forcibly  incorporating  barbarians  in  the  army  was  as 
old  as  the  empire.  See  Tacitus,  Annates,  iv,  46;  Agricola,  13,  28,  31; 
Germania,  29;  Hist.,  i,  59;  iv,  18. 

2  The  Notitia  Dignitatum  shows  that  the  Roman  army  in  the  early 
part  of  the  fifth  century  included  many  Germans:  Heruli,  Marcomanni 
and  Alani  were  in  barracks  in  Italy;  Salii  in  Spain,  Gaul  and  even  in 
Africa;  many  of  them,  serving  as  foederati,  must  have  had  permanent 
establishments. 

'  "  The  true  patriot  emperor  will  find  this  to  be  his  first  task,  cau- 
tiously but  firmly  to  weed  out  the  barbarians  from  his  army  and  make 
that  army  what  it  once  was,  Roman."  Synesius,  Oration  on  King- 
ship. 


86  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [492 

office  within  the  empire;  they  came  by  force  to  serve  the 
Romans;  they  came  now  singly,  now  in  troops,  now  with 
their  household  and  all  their  movable  belongings ;  they  came 
as  friends  of  the  state,  as  enemies  of  the  state,  as  allies  or 
partisans  of  some  general  or  emperor;  and  often  they 
came  simply  in  quest  of  greater  prosperity  with  all  respect 
and  honor  for  the  ancient  commonwealth  of  Rome. 
V  How  did  the  Romans  regard  this  Germanic  immigration  ? 
Their  point  of  view  was  different  from  ours,  for  the  imme- 
diate contact  and  the  events  passing  daily  before  their  eyes 
prevented  anything  like  the  cold  analytical  treatment  which 
we  employ.  The  Romans  before  engaging  the  Germans 
had  contended  with  settlecLpeoples.  Even  the  Gallic  popu- 
lations were  attached  to  the  soil  and  had  cities.  And  when 
the  Romans  found  foes  in  unsettled  Germans,  they  despised 
them  and  exaggerated  their  weakness  as  we  exaggerate  their 
strength.  The  Romans  believed  firmly  in  the  eternity  of 
Rome  and  the  empire;  they  could  foresee  no  ultimate  dan- 
ger to  the  commonwealth ;  they  give  no  hint  of  any  suspicion 
that  the  Germans  would  one  day  overturn  the  state  and 
plant  rival  kingdoms  in  its  stead.  The  emperors  were  glad 
to  use  Germans  in  the  army,  and  the  landowners  found 
them  very  serviceable  on  the  estates.  As  time  went  on, 
the  Germans  were  more  and  more  identified  with  the  popu- 
lar issues,  political  and  religious.  It  was  a  time  when  the 
Roman  world  was  divided  between  Christians  and  pagans, 
and  the  contest  was  between  religions  rather  than  races; 
probably  each  party  hoped  to  secure  the  balance  of  power 
from  barbarian  proselytes ;  ^   at   any   rate,   each   party   ac- 

lUlfilas  (d.  381)  had  preached  to  the  Goths  while  they  were  still 
living  north  of  the  Danube,  and  his  translation  of  most  of  the  Bible 
into  Gothic,  using  Greek  letters  to  represent  the  sounds,  is  the  only 
example  of  writing  in  any  German  language  before  Charlemagne's 
time.     The  orthodox  Orosius  saw  only  the  finger  of  God  in  the  battle 


493]        GENERAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  INVASIONS         87 

cused  the  other  of  responsibility  for  the  ills  which  existed 
or  were  imagined  to  exist  in  the  commonwealth.  It  was  a 
time,  likewise,  when  rival  generals  contended  with  each 
other  for  the  purple,  and  each  contestant  for  political  su- 
premacy sought  barbarian  support.  The  strife  of  emperors 
eclipsed  the  strife  of  races. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  look  to  a  decline  of  Roman  organi- 
zation and  prowess  in  order  to  explain  the  ultimate  success 
of  the  Germans.  The  Germanic  immigration  was  so 
gradual,  so  many-sided,  and  so  adaptive  to  conditions  exis- 
tent within  the  commonwealth,  that  not  until  the  lapse  of 
centuries  thereafter  could  the  true  meaning  and  import  of 
the  transition  be  determined. 

of  Adrianople :  "  The  Goths  had  previously  asked  through  ambas- 
sadors that  bishops  be  sent  them,  by  whom  they  might  learn  the  rule 
of  the  Christian  faith.  Emperor  Valens  sent  those  learned  in  the  base 
and  fatal  Arian  dogma.  The  Goths  held  to  the  basis  of  the  first  faith 
they  received.  Accordingly  by  just  judgment  of  God  did  the  very 
ones  burn  him  on  whose  account  they  are  consumed  in  the  curse  of 
mortal  error." — ^vii,  33. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Sources  from  Theodosius  the  Great  to  Justinian 

One  hundred  and  fifty  years  elapsed  from  the  time 
when  Ammianus  Marcellinus  closed  his  admirable  history 
until  Procopius,  another  soldier-writer,  narrated  in  similar 
vein  the  story  of  Justinian's  wars  against  Vandals,  Goths 
and  Persians.  The  gap,  remarkable  for  the  paucity  of 
reliable  sources,  is  in  itself  an  eloquent  source  for  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  Germanic  invasions  during  the  period.  It, 
indeed,  witnessed  the  wanderings  of  Goths  through  Greece 
and  Illyricum  and  southern  Gaul  and  their  final  settlement 
in  Spain;  it  observed  Vandal  settlements  in  Africa;  it  be- 
held the  bursting  into  Italy  and  Gaul  of  the  Hunnish  horde 
and  their  expulsion;  it  saw  Angles  and  Saxons  contending 
in  Britain,  and  Franks  and  Burgundians  living  in  Gaul,  and 
more  Goths  —  Ostrogoths  —  located  in  Italy.  It  was  the 
century  and  the  half  of  closest  contact  between  Germans 
and  Roman  citizens,  of  gradual  deliquescence  of  the  west- 
ern provinces  into  semi-barbarian  states,  and  of  the  conver- 
sion of  the  immigrants  to  Arianism  and  later  to  Catholicism. 
It  knew  Alaric  and  Attila  and  Genseric  and  Odovacar  and 
Clovis  and  Theodoric.  But  its  contemporary  sources  of 
information  are  biased,  fragmentary  and  dismal.  They 
comprise  the  diffuse,  inconsequential  history  of  Zosimus;  a 
very  few  fragments  of  other,  and  possibly  better,  Greek 
historians;  Christian  apologies  like  those  of  Augustine, 
Orosius  and  Salvian;  ecclesiastical  histories;  a  few  meager 
88  [494 


I 


495]       SOURCES  FROM  THEODOSIUS  TO  JUSTINIAN       89 

chronicles;  biographies  of  wonder-working  saints;  and 
poems  and  panegyrics,  which,  unimportant  in  the  fourth 
century,  become  invaluable  in  the  fifth. ^  They  bear  wit- 
ness to  a  decline  in  culture  as  impressive  as  the  increasing 
political  broils. 

The  chief  of  these  disappointing  sources  for  thirty  years 
or  more  after  the  battle  of  Adrianople  is  Zosimus,  who 
lived  in  the  east,  wrote  in  Greek  and  had  a  strong  pagan 
bias.  Of  his  life  we  know  practically  nothing.  Photius  - 
says  he  was  comes  et  exadvocatus  at  Constantinople,  and  it 
has  been  generally  assumed  that  he  flourished  about  the 
middle  of  the  fifth  century.  His  history  *  consists  of  six 
books:  the  first  contains  a  brief  sketch  of  the  emperors 
from  Augustus  to  Diocletian  (305)  ;  the  second,  third  and 
fourth  deal  more  copiously  with  the  period  from  the  ac- 
cession of  Constantius  and  Galerius  to  the  death  of  Theo- 
dosius;  and  the  fifth  and  sixth  treat  of  the  period  from 
395  to  409.  It  was  probably  left  unfinished.  The  main  sources 
for  the  work  seem  to  have  been  Eunapius  of  Sardis,*  who 
had  continued  the  slender  chronicle  of  Dexippus  from  268 
to  404,  and  the  history  of  Olympiodorus.'     Of  the  other 

^  It  is  interesting  to  note  how  seldom  before  378  and  how  often 
afterwards  Gibbon  quotes  panegyrists  and  poets. 

2  See  infra,  p.  98. 

•There  are  editions  of  Zosimus  by  I.  Bekker  (Bonn,  1837)  and  by 
L.  Mendelssohn  (Leipzig,  1887).  An  English  translation  was  published 
at  London  in  1814.  There  is  a  German  translation  by  D.  C  Seybold 
and  K.  C.  Heyler  (Frankfurt-a.-M.,  1802).  See  C.  von  Hoeflcr, 
Kritische  Bemerkungen  Uber  den  Zosimus  tind  den  Grad  seiner  Glaub- 
wiirdigkeit  (Vienna,  1880). 

*  A  Greek  rhetorician,  born  347.  His  twenty-three  superficial  biog- 
raphies of  older  and  contemporary  philosophers  are  our  authority  for 
Neo-Platonism  in  the  fourth  century.  See  K.  Krumbacher,  Die  Ge- 
schichte  der  hysantinischen  Literatur  (Munich,  1891). 

"  See  supra,  p.  69,  note,  and  infra,  p.  99. 


90  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [496 

sources  we  know  practically  nothing,^  and  it  is  questionable 
whether  Zosimus  was  himself  an  eye-witness  of  any  of  the 
events  he  narrates. 

Zosimus  is  important  for  the  period  from  the  death  of 
Valens  to  the  eve  of  the  sack  of  Rome  in  410;  he  treats, 
with  particular  attention  to  the  eastern  provinces,  of  the 
wars  and  character  of  Theodosius  the  Great,  of  Gratian  and 
Valentinian  II,  of  Arcadius  and  Honorius,  of  the  bar- 
barian "  bosses  "  Gainas,  Stilicho  and  Alaric.  He  tells  of 
deeds  of  war,  of  miracles  and  prodigies,  of  princes  and  pil- 
lagers. The  wanderings  of  the  Goths  through  Greece,  their 
temporary  settlements  in  Illyricum  and  Thrace  and  their 
raids  in  Italy  are  interspersed  with  indications  of  barbarian 
unrest  in  Asia  and  far-off  echoes  of  tumult  in  Gaul,  even  in 
Spain.  Every  page  mentions  the  Germans,  sometimes  as 
slaves,  more  often  as  imperial  soldiers  or  daring  marauders, 
but  the  monotony  of  barbarian  broils  is  occasionally  broken 
by  other  kinds  of  civil  war,  as  the  rebellion  of  a  Gildo  or 
the  usurpation  of  a  Constantine;  and  our  writer,  if  he  un- 
derstands the  Germanic  invasions  a  little  better  than  his 
predecessors,  acquaints  us  not  with  the  social  conditions 
or  the  political  organization  of  the  invaders. 

Zosimus  has  a  decided  tendens.  He  feels  instinctively 
a  decline  in  imperial  fortune  and  he  knows  where  to  fix  the 
blame ;  he  is  a  pious  pagan  :  he  fixes  it  on  Christianity.  He 
seeks  ever  by  damaging  innuendo  and  clever  sarcasm  to 
raise  a  laugh  at  the  expense  of  the  Christians.  A  good 
example  of  this  tendency  is  his  account  of  Constantine's 
conversion,  especially  his  incidental  and  slighting  observa- 
tion on  the  Christian  method  of  forgiving  sins : 

When  Constantine  came  to  Rome,  he  was  filled  with  pride  and 

1  See  R.  C.  Martin,  De  fontibus  Zosimi  (Berlin,  1866). 


497]      SOURCES  FROM  THEODOSIUS  TO  JUSTINIAN       91 

arrogance.  Resolved  to  begin  his  impious  actions  at  home, 
he  put  to  death  his  son  Crispus,  who  was  a  Caesar,  on  the 
charge  of  debauching  his  mother-in-law  Fausta,  without  any 
regard  to  the  ties  of  nature.  And  when  his  own  mother, 
Helena,  expressed  much  sorrow  for  this  atrocity,  lamenting 
the  young  man's  death  with  great  bitterness,  Constantine, 
under  pretence  of  comforting  her,  applied  a  remedy  worse  than 
the  disease.  For  causing  a  bath  to  be  heated  to  an  extraor- 
dinary degree,  he  shut  up  Fausta  in  it,  and  a  short  time  after 
took  her  out  dead.  His  conscience  troubled  him  for  this,  as 
also  for  violating  his  oath,  and  he  went  to  the  [pagan]  priests 
to  be  purified  from  his  sins.  They  told  him,  however,  that 
no  kind  of  lustration  would  suffice  to  clear  him  of  such  enor- 
mities. A  Spaniard,  named  Aegyptius,  who  was  at  Rome, 
being  very  familiar  with  the  court  ladies  [ !  ] ,  happened  to 
engage  in  conversation  with  Constantine  and  assured  him  that 
the  Christian  doctrine  would  teach  him  how  to  cleanse  him- 
self from  all  the  offences  and  that  they  who  received  it  were 
immediately  absolved  from  all  their  sins.  Constantine  had  no 
sooner  heard  this  than  he  readily  believed  what  was  told  him, 
and  forsaking  the  rites  of  his  country,  received  those  which 
Aegyptius  oflFered  him     .     .     .^ 

The  religious  bias  of  Zosimus  is  apparent  in  many  other 
places : 

Theodosius  the  Great  before  his  departure  from  Rome  con- 
vened the  senate,  which  firmly  adhered  to  the  ancient  rites 
and  customs  of  the  country  and  could  not  be  induced  to  join 
those  who  were  inclined  to  contempt  for  the  gods.  In  a  speech 
he  exhorted  the  senators  to  relinquish  their  errors,  as  he 
termed  them,  and  to  embrace  the  Christian  faith,  which 
promises  absolution  from  all  sins  and  impieties.  But  not  a 
single  one  of  them  would  be  persuaded  to  this,  nor  recede 

*  ii,  29.     This  is  one  of  the  earliest  references  to  what  was  later  ex- 
panded into  the  legend  of  the  Vita  Sylvestri. 


92  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [498 

from  the  ancient  ceremonies  which  had  been  handed  down 
to  them  from  the  building  of  their  city,  and  prefer  to  them 
an  unreasoning  assent,  having,  as  they  said,  lived  in  the  observ- 
ance of  them  almost  twelve  hundred  years,  in  the  whole  space 
of  which  their  city  had  never  been  conquered;  wherefore 
should  they  change  them  for  others,  they  could  not  foresee 
what  might  ensue.  Theodosius  then  told  them  that  the  treas- 
ury was  too  much  exhausted  by  the  expense  of  sacred  rites 
and  sacrifices,  and  that  he  should  consequently  abolish  them, 
since  he  neither  thought  them  commendable  nor  could  the 
needs  of  the  army  spare  so  much  money.  The  senate  in  reply 
observed  that  the  sacrifices  were  not  duly  performed  unless 
the  charges  were  defrayed  from  the  public  funds.  Yet  the 
laws  for  the  performance  of  sacred  rites  and  sacrifices  were 
repealed,  besides  other  institutions  and  ceremonies  which  had 
been  received  from  their  ancestors.  By  these  means,  the 
Roman  empire,  having  been  devastated  by  degrees,  is  become 
the  habitation  of  barbarians,  or  rather,  having  lost  all  its  inhabi- 
tants, is  reduced  to  such  a  form  that  no  person  can  distinguish 
where  its  cities  formerly  stood.^     .     .     . 

[The  barbarian  Fraiutus]  returned  to  the  emperor  [Ar- 
cadius]  proud  of  his  victory  [over  Gainas],  which  he  openly 
and  boldly  ascribed  to  the  favor  of  the  gods  whom  he  wor- 
shiped, for  he  was  not  ashamed  even  in  the  presence  of  the 
emperor  to  profess  that  he  honored  and  worshiped  the  gods 
after  the  ancient  custom  of  his  forefathers  and  would  not  in 
that  respect  follow  the  vulgar  people.^     .     .     . 

The  Romans  resolved  to  supply  the  deficiency  [in  the  in- 
demnity due  Alaric]  from  the  ornaments  on  the  statues  of  the 
gods.  Not  only  this,  but  they  melted  down  some  of  the  gold 
and  silver  statues,  among  which  was  that  of  Valor  or  Forti- 
tude. This  being  destroyed,  all  that  remained  of  Roman 
bravery  and  valor  was  totally  extinguished  according  to  the 
opinion  of  persons  skilled  in  sacred  rites  and  observances.^    .    .    . 

1  iv,  59.  ^  V,  21.  ^  V,  41. 


499]      SOURCES  FROM  THEODOSIUS  TO  JUSTINIAN       93 

The  tremendous  influence  exercised  by  German  leaders 
in  the  military  and  political  affairs  of  the  later  Roman  em- 
pire stands  out  clearly  in  the  narrative  of  Zosimus.  Gratian, 
who  sent  an  army  to  the  assistance  of  Theodosius,  entrusted 
the  command  to  two  Prankish  chieftains.^  One  of  these. 
Arbogastes  by  name,-  later  acquired  such  control  over 
Valentinian  II 

that  he  would  speak  without  reserve  to  the  emperor  and  con- 
demn any  measure  which  he  thought  improper.  This  gave 
great  umbrage  to  Valentinian  who  ventured  to  oppose  him  on 
several  occasions  and  would  have  done  him  injury  if  he  could. 
.  .  .  He  sent  frequent  letters  to  Theodosius,  acquainting 
him  with  the  arrogant  behavior  of  Arbogastes  toward  the 
majesty  of  an  emperor  and  requesting  his  intervention. 

The  Prankish  chieftain  at  length  assassinated  Valentinian 
at  Vienne  and  picked  out  a  puppet  emperor  in  the  person  of 
the  learned  Eugenius,  whose  recognition  he  sought  from 
Theodosius.  But  Theodosius  himself  held  in  high  favor  the 
Vandal,  Stilicho,^  who  was  more  than  a  match  for  the 
Frank,  and  Zosimus  becomes  the  chief  source  for  the  over- 
throw of  the  puppet  Eugenius  and  the  other  steps  by  which 
Stilicho  became  the  guardian  of  Honorius  and  the  "  boss  " 
of  the  western  provinces.  In  order  that  he  might  also  be 
"  boss  "  in  the  east,  Stilicho,  according  to  Zosimus,  sent 
the  German  Gainas  *  with  an  army  against  his  co-regent 
Rufinus  "  ostensibly  to  assist  Arcadius."  Having  arrived 
in  the  east,  however,  Gainas  used  his  might  and  consequent 
political  influence  not  altogether  in  behalf  of  his  barbarian 
patron,  but  rather,  to  control  in  his  own  interest  the  weak- 
kneed  Arcadius.     He  made  short  shrift  of  Rufinus  and  of 

^  iv,  32.  2  iv,  53-59. 

«  Stilicho  had  married  the  emperor's  niece.  *  v,  8-22. 


94  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [cqo 

another  court  favorite,  a  certain  Eutropius,  and  might 
have  continued  to  exercise  an  influence  as  paramount  in  the 
east  as  that  of  Stilicho  in  the  v^^est  had  not  another  German, 
this  time  a  certain  Fraiutus  "  who  was  a  Greek  to  most  in- 
tents and  purposes  even  in  religion,"  surpassed  him  in 
prowess  and  supplanted  him  in  favor.  Arcadius  gave 
Fraiutus  command  of  the  army,  with  the  unanimous  consent 
of  the  senate,  and  appointed  him  consul.  Zosimus,  however, 
sheds  no  tear  over  the  fate  of  poor  Gainas,  who  retired 
from  the  politics  and  the  territory  of  the  ungrateful  empire, 
was  killed  in  battle  with  the  Huns,  and  whose  head  was  sent 
to  grace  Arcadius's  court. ^ 

Zosimus  views  the  movements  of  the  Goths  as  the  result 
of  the  relations  between  Stilicho,  who  was  "  boss,"  and 
Alaric,  who  wanted  the  emoluments  of  "boss"  government.^ 
He  states  that  Alaric  received  an  imperial  office  in  Illyri- 
cum,  besides  an  appropriation  from  the  senate,*  and  was 
promised  command  of  the  army  of  Honorius  against  the 
usurper  Constantine  while  Stilicho  should  head  the  regency 
for  the  young  Theodosius  H.*  He  hints  at  vague  and  dark 
intrigues  in  court  and  in  the  army  which  brought  about  the 
death  of  Stilicho  ^  and  drove  Alaric  "  to  employ  force  in 
order  to  secure  his  coveted  offices  and  honors.  There  are 
two  successful  sieges  of  Rome,  the  second  because  "  the  em- 
peror declared  that  no  office  or  command  should  ever  be 

1  Two  epic  poems  treat  of  the  Gainas  episode :  one  recited  by  Am- 
monius  cca.  437;  and  the  other  the  Guinea  of  Eusebius,  the  pupil  of 
Troilus.  For  an  excellent  account  of  the  political  relations  between 
these  barbarian  courtiers  and  their  armies  in  the  field,  see  A.  Giilden- 
penning,  Geschichte  des  ostromischen  Reichs  unter  den  Kaisern  Arca- 
dius und  Theodosius  II  (Halle,  1885). 

2  V,  26.  The  estimate  of  Stilicho  by  Zosimus  should  be  compared 
with  Claudian's  and  with  that  of  Orosius. 

'  V,  29.  *  V,  31.  "  V,  34.  «  V,  37-51 ;  vi,  6-13. 


50l]      SOURCES  FROM  THEODOSIUS  TO  JUSTINIAN       g^ 

conferred  on  him  or  any  of  his  family."  ^  Zosimus  does 
not  suggest  that  Alaric  sought  the  destruction  of  Rome, 
much  less  the  overthrow  of  the  commonwealth;  in  fact, 
he  conveys  the  impression  that  Alaric  was  not  even  pillag- 
ing Rome,  as  many  other  German  chieftains  had  pillaged 
other  towns  of  the  empire,  primarily  for  the  purpose  of 
plunder,  but  rather  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  manage 
the  politics  of  the  state.  Failing  in  his  attempt  to  bring 
Honorius  to  terms,  the  Gothic  politician  determined  to  have 
an  emperor  whom  he  could  control  : 

Alaric,  finding  that  he  could  not  procure  a  peace  on  the  con- 
ditions which  he  proposed  and  not  having  received  any 
hostages,  once  more  threatened  to  attack  Rome  if  the  citizens 
refused  to  join  him  against  emperor  Honorius.  They  deferred 
their  answer  until  he  besieged  the  city  and  occupied  Portus 
after  a  resistance  of  several  days.  He  threatened  to  distribute 
among  his  men  the  supplies  which  he  seized  at  Portus  unless 
the  Romans  should  accede  to  his  demands.  The  senate  as- 
sembled and  on  due  deliberation  complied  with  all  that  Alaric 
required,  for  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  avoid  death 
inasmuch  as  no  provisions  could  be  brought  to  the  city  from 
Portus.  They  accordingly  received  the  embassy  of  Alaric,  in- 
vited him  to  their  city,  and,  as  he  commanded,  placed  Attalus, 
the  prefect  of  the  city,  on  the  imperial  throne  and  gave  the 
command  to  Alaric  and  Valens,  who  had  formerly  commanded 
the  Dalmatian  legions,  distributing  the  other  offices  in  proper 
order.  Alaric  then  occupied  the  palace,  attended  by  an  im- 
perial guard,  although  many  ill  omens  occurred  on  his  way. 
The  following  day  he  entered  the  senate  and  made  an  arro- 
gant speech,  saying  with  great  ostentation  that  he  would 
subdue  the  whole  world  to  the  Romans  and  even  perform 
greater  things  than  that.  For  this  the  gods  perhaps  were 
angry  and  decreed  soon  afterwards  his  removal.    .    .    .    None 

'  V,  49. 


96  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [502 

was  displeased  with  these  occurrences  except  the  family  of  the 
Anicii,^  who  had  got  into  their  hands  almost  all  the  money 
in  the  city  and  were  now  grieved  at  the  prosperous  state  of 
affairs.  Alaric  prudently  advised  Attains  to  send  a  competent 
force  into  Africa  and  to  Carthage  .  .  .  but  Attains  would 
not  listen  to  his  admonitions.  .  .  .  Honorius  was  so  terri- 
fied and  perplexed  that  he  sent  out  ambassadors  to  propose 
that  the  empire  should  be  divided  between  them.  .  .  . 
[Honorius  prepared  to  flee  but  the  arrival  of  aid  from  the 
east  enabled  him  to  await  the  outcome  of  the  African  cam- 
paign. Alaric  meanwhile  became  more  and  more  disgusted 
with  Attains.]     .     .     . 

Now  Attalus  went  to  Rome  and  convened  the  senate.  After 
some  debate,  most  of  the  senators  were  of  the  opinion  that 
barbarians  and  Roman  soldiers  ought  to  be  sent  to  Africa 
together,  and  that  Drumas  should  be  their  commander,  he 
being  a  person  who  had  already  given  proofs  of  his  fidelity 
and  good  will.  Only  Attalus  and  a  few  more  dissented  from 
the  majority  of  the  senate,  he  being  unwilling  to  send  out  a 
barbarian  as  commander  of  a  Roman  army.  This  was  the 
first  time  that  Alaric  formed  a  design  against  Attalus  to 
depose  him  or  deprive  him  of  life,  although  Jovius  had  pre- 
viously instigated  him  to  it  by  incessant  calumnies  and  false 
accusations.  In  order  therefore  to  put  his  design  in  execution, 
he  led  Attalus  out  before  the  city  of  Rimini,  where  he 
then  resided,  and  stripped  off  his  diadem  and  purple  robe, 
which  he  sent  to  emperor  Honorius.  But  although  he  reduced 
Attalus  to  the  condition  of  a  private  individual  before  all  the 
people,  he  kept  him  and  his  son  Ampelius  at  his  own  house 
until  he  had  made  peace  with  Honorius,  when  he  procured 
their  pardon.^ 

1  One  of  the  leading  Christian  families  at  Rome.  See  H.  Grisar, 
Histoire  de  Rome  et  des  papes,  trans,  from  German  (Paris,  1906), 
vol.  i,  p.  53.  This  passage  in  Zosimus  is  an  illustration  of  his  re- 
sourcefulness in  casting  discredit  on  those  who  differed  from  him  in 
belief. 

2  vi,  6-12.     Orosius  remarks  with  diverting  contradictions   (vii,  42)  : 


503]      SOURCES  FROM  THEODOSIUS  TO  JUSTINIAN        gy 

Zosimus  devotes  little  attention  to  what  we  now  suppose 
were  momentous  events  west  of  the  Alps  during  those  early 
years  of  the  fifth  century.  The  Germanic  invasions  and 
settlements  in  Gaul,  Britain  and  Spain  are  dismissed  in  a 
few  lines: 

Arcadius  being  in  his  sixth  consulship  and  Probus  his  col- 
league, the  Vandals  united  with  the  Alani  and  Suevi  and 
crossed  the  Alps,  plundering  the  country  beyond.  They  oc- 
casioned so  great  slaughter  that  the  armies  in  Britain,  fearing 
lest  they  might  extend  their  ravages  into  those  regions,  chose 
several  usurpers,  such  as  Marcus,  Gratian,  and  especially  Con- 
stantine.^  A  furious  engagement  ensued  in  which  the  Romans 
gained  the  victory  and  killed  most  of  the  barbarians,  but 
neglected  to  pursue  the  fugitives,  who  might  have  been  put 
to  death  to  a  man.  This  gave  the  barbarians  an  opportunity 
to  rally,  to  collect  additional  forces,  and  once  more  to  assume 
the  offensive.  Constantine  posted  garrisons  to  keep  them  out 
of  Gaul  and  likewise  secured  the  Rhine  which  had  been 
neglected  since  the  time  of  emperor  Julian.     .     .     . 

"  What  shall  I  say  of  most  wretched  Attalus,  whose  distinction  was 
to  be  slain  as  a  usurper  and  whose  gain  was  death?  Alaric  watched 
the  play  of  empire  and  laughed  at  the  farce  of  this  emperor  made, 
unmade,  remade,  and  demade,  almost  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell ; 
nor  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  unhappy  man  was  rightfully  de- 
ceived by  the  same  kind  of  pomp  with  which  that  retired  consul  Ter- 
tullus  ventured  to  say  in  court,  *  I  shall  address  you,  conscript  fathers, 
as  consul  and  pontifex,  the  one  of  which  I  am,  the  other  I  hope  to  be,' 
since  he  was  deriving  hope  from  him  who  had  no  hope,  and  was 
accursed  besides  because  he  put  his  confidence  in  man.  Thus  did 
Attalus  with  the  Goths  carry  the  lifeless  form  of  empire  as  far  as 
Spain.  He  departed  thence  in  an  unseaworthy  vessel,  was  captured 
at  sea  and  brought  before  count  Constantius;  then  he  was  exhibited 
by  emperor  Honorius  and  suffered  the  loss  of  a  hand  though  his  life 
was  spared." 

1  This  is  the  usurper  Constantine  who  was  proclaimed  emperor  in 
Britain  in  407  but  was  forced  to  abdicate  at  Aries  in  411. 


98  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [504 

While  the  greater  part  of  Constantine's  army  was  in  Spain, 
the  barbarians  from  beyond  the  Rhine  made  such  unrestrained 
incursions  into  every  province  as  to  compel  not  only  the 
Britons  but  also  some  of  the  Celtic  tribes  to  secede  from  the 
empire,  and  live  no  longer  under  Roman  law  but  as  they 
themselves  pleased.  Thus  the  Britons  took  up  arms  and  en- 
countered many  dangers  for  their  own  protection,  until  they 
had  freed  their  towns  of  the  barbarians  who  besieged  them. 
Similarly,  the  whole  of  Armorica,  together  with  other  Gallic 
provinces,  was  delivered,  expelling  the  Roman  officers  and 
magistrates  and  erecting  whatever  government  was  required. 
In  this  way,  Britain  and  the  Celtic  tribes  revolted  when  Con- 
stantine  usurped  the  empire,  by  whose  negligent  government 
the  barbarians  were  emboldened  to  commit  such  devastation.^ 

It  is  possible  that  the  fifth  century  possessed  better  his- 
torians than  Zosimus,  but  if  so,  their  works  have  perished. 
We  know  next  to  nothing  about  a  certain  Sulpicius  Alex- 
ander, who,  as  well  as  Renatus  Profuturus  Frigeridus,  is 
mentioned  by  Gregory  of  Tours,  or  about  Ablavius,  whose 
history  of  the  Goths  is  cited  by  Jordanes.  Then  too,  the 
few  fragments  of  the  Greek  historians  of  the  fifth  century 
which  have  survived,-  are  too  meager  to  enable  us  to  pass 
a  decisive  opinion  on  their  relative  merit  and  authority. 
What  we  have  of  them  is  due  largely  to  two  Greek  scholars 
of  later  centuries,  the  patriarch  Photius  (d.  891)  and  the 
emperor  Constantine  VII,  Porphyrogenitus  (d.  959). 

Photius  prepared  for  his  brother,  who  was  absent  in  the 
east,  brief  critical  analyses  of  the  books  which  had  been  read 
and  discussed  in  the  literary  circle  at  Constantinople,  of  which 

^vi,  3-6. 

2  These  Greek  fragments,  with  a  rather  unreliable  Latin  transla- 
tion, are  collected  in  C.  Mullet's  Fragmenta  Historicorum  Graecorum, 
vol.  iv. 


505]      SOURCES  FROM  THEODOSIUS  TO  JUSTINIAN        gg 

he  was  a  prominent  figure/  In  this  fashion,  outlines  of 
some  two  hundred  and  eighty  works,  with  valuable  extracts, 
were  preserved.  Among  the  number  are  the  chronicle  of 
Eunapius  of  Sardis  which  dealt  particularly  with  the  period 
immediately  following  the  death  of  Theodosius  the  Great; 
the  history  of  Olympiodorus  extending  from  407  to  425; 
the  work  of  Malchus,  a  native  of  Philadelphia  in  Syria, 
which  covered  the  period  from  474  to  480 ;  ^  and  the  account 
of  the  reigns  of  Leo  I  and  Zeno  (457-491)  by  Candidus, 
who  was  "  secretary  to  influential  Isaurians." 

As  for  the  erudite  emperor  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus, 
he  directed  the  compilation  of  a  great  source-book,  the 
material  for  which  was  grouped  under  fifty-three  head- 
ings. Much  of  this  is  now  lost,  but  the  two  extant  sec- 
tions on  state  missions  and  embassies  have  saved  for  us 
some  important  details,  which  inject  a  little  life  into  the  few 
dull  chronicles  '  that  are  our  main  guides  to  events  from 
the  point  where  Zosimus  deserts  us  (409)  down  to  the 
establishment  of  Theodoric's  power  in  Italy  (cca.  490). 

The  best  written  and  most  helpful  of  all  these  fragments  * 
are  the  excerpts  from  the  account  of  Priscus  of  the  mission 
which  he  undertook  for  Theodosius  II  in  448  to  the  court 

1  Tlig  Bibliotheca  of  Photius  is  edited  by  Migne,  Patrol.  Graec,  vols, 
ci-civ.  See  J.  Card.  Hergenrother,  Photius,  Patriarch  von  Konstan- 
tinopel,  sein  Lehen,  seine  Schriften,  und  das  griechische  Schisma  (Re- 
gensburg,  1867).  Most  of  the  Greek  historians  of  the  empire  are  to 
be  found  in  two  collections :  that  of  Bonn,  Corpus  historiae  Byzantinae , 
commenced  by  Niebuhr  in  1826  and  continued  by  Bekker,  and  that  of 
C.  Miiller,  Fragmenta  Historicorum  Graecorum. 

2  Suidas,  the  Greek  lexicographer  who  flourished  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  tenth  century,  asserts  that  the  history  of  Malchus  extended  from 
the  time  of  Constantine  the  Great  to  that  of  Anastasius. 

»  See  infra,  p.  145  et  seq. 

*  For  a  useful  guide  to  these  and  other  Greek  sources,  see  K.  Krum- 
bacher,  Geschichte  der  bysantinischen  Literatur  (Munich,  1891). 


lOO  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [506 

of  the  Huns.  The  account  is  enriched  by  digressions  on 
the  life  of  Attila  and  the  customs  of  his  people.  Priscus 
appears  to  have  had  the  qualities  of  fairness  and  keen  ob- 
servation. It  is  regrettable  that  we  have  not  more  informa- 
tion like  the  following: 

A  man  whom,  from  his  Scythian  dress,  I  took  for  a  barbarian, 
came  up  [while  I  was  waiting  for  the  audience  with  Attila] 
and  addressed  me  in  Greek,  with  the  word  "  Hail !"  I  was  sur- 
prised at  a  Scythian  speaking  Greek.  For  the  subjects  of  the 
Huns,  swept  together  from  various  lands,  speak  beside  their 
own  barbarous  tongue,  either  Hunnic  or  Gothic,  or — as  many 
as  have  commercial  dealing  with  the  western  Romans — Latin ; 
but  none  of  them  speak  Greek  readily,  except  captives  from 
the  Thracian  or  lUyrian  seacoast;  and  these  last  are  easily 
known  to  any  stranger  by  their  torn  garments  and  the  squalor 
of  their  head,  as  men  who  have  met  with  a  reverse.  This 
man,  on  the  contrary,  resembled  a  well-to-do  Scythian,  being 
well  dressed,  and  having  his  hair  cut  in  a  circle  after  Scythian 
fashion. 

Having  returned  his  salutation,  I  asked  him  who  he  was  and 
whence  he  had  come  into  a  foreign  land  and  adopted  Scythian 
life.  When  he  asked  me  why  I  wanted  to  know,  I  told  him 
that  his  Hellenic  speech  had  prompted  my  curiosity.  Then 
he  smiled  and  said  that  he  was  born  a  Greek  and  had  gone 
as  a  merchant  to  Viminacium,  on  the  Danube,  where  he  had 
stayed  a  long  time,  and  married  a  very  rich  wife.  But  the  city 
fell  a  prey  to  the  barbarians,  and  he  was  stripped  of  his 
prosperity,  and  on  account  of  his  riches  was  allotted  to  One- 
gesius  [a  Hunnish  leader]  in  the  division  of  the  spoil,  as  it 
was  the  custom  among  the  Scythians  for  the  chiefs  to  reserve 
for  themselves  the  rich  prisoners.  Having  fought  bravely 
against  the  Romans  and  the  Acatiri,  he  had  paid  the  spoils  he 
won  to  his  master,  and  so  obtained  freedom.  He  then  married 
a  barbarian  wife  and  had  children,  and  had  the  privilege  of 
partaking  at  the  table  of  Onegesius. 

He  considered  his  new  life  among  the  Scythians  better  than 


507]      SOURCES  FROM  THEODOSIUS  TO  JUSTINIAN      iqi 

his  old  life  among  the  Romans,  and  the  reasons  he  urged  were 
as  follows :  "  After  war  the  Scythians  live  at  leisure,  enjoying 
what  they  have  got,  and  not  at  all,  or  very  little,  disturbed. 
The  Romans,  on  the  other  hand,  are  in  the  first  place  very 
Uable  to  be  killed,  if  there  are  any  hostilities,  since  they  have 
to  rest  their  hopes  of  protection  on  others,  and  are  not  allowed, 
by  their  tyrants,  to  use  arms.  And  those  who  do  use  them  are 
injured  by  the  cowardice  of  their  generals,  who  cannot 
properly  conduct  war. 

"  But  the  condition  of  Roman  subjects  in  time  of  peace  is 
far  more  grievous  than  the  evils  of  war,  for  the  exaction  of 
the  taxes  is  very  severe,  and  unprincipled  men  inflict  injuries 
on  others  because  the  laws  are  practically  not  valid  against 
all  classes.  A  transgressor  who  belongs  to  the  wealthy  classes 
is  not  punished  for  his  injustice,  while  a  poor  man,  who  does 
not  understand  business,  undergoes  the  legal  penalty, — that  is, 
if  he  does  not  depart  this  life  before  the  trial,  so  long  is  the 
course  of  lawsuits  protracted,  and  so  much  money  is  expended 
on  them.  The  climax  of  misery  is  to  have  to  pay  in  order  to 
obtain  justice.  For  no  one  will  give  a  hearing  to  the  injured 
man  except  he  pay  a  sum  of  money  to  the  judge  and  the 
judge's  clerks." 

In  reply  to  this  attack  on  the  empire,  I  asked  him  to  be 
good  enough  to  listen  with  patience  to  the  other  side  of  the 
question.  "  The  creators  of  the  Roman  republic,"  I  said, 
"  who  were  wise  and  good  men,  in  order  to  prevent  things 
from  being  done  at  haphazard,  made  one  class  of  men  guar- 
dians of  the  laws,  and  appointed  another  class  to  the  profes- 
sion of  arms,  who  were  to  have  no  other  object  than  to  be 
always  ready  for  battle,  and  to  go  forth  to  war  without  dread, 
as  though  to  their  ordinary  exercise,  having  by  practice  ex- 
hausted all  their  fear  beforehand.  Others  again  were  as- 
signed to  attend  to  the  cultivation  of  the  ground,  to  support 
themselves  and  those  who  fight  in  their  defence  by  contributing 
the  military  corn  supply.  ...  To  those  who  protect  the 
interests  of  the  litigants  a  sum  of  money  is  paid  by  the  latter. 


I02  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [508 

just  as  a  payment  is  made  by  the  farmers  to  the  soldiers. 
Is  it  not  fair  to  support  him  who  assists  and  requite  him  for 
his  kindness?     .     .     . 

"  Those  who  spend  money  on  a  suit  and  lose  it  in  the  end 
cannot  fairly  put  it  down  to  anything  but  the  injustice  of 
their  case.  And  as  to  the  long  time  spent  on  lawsuits,  that  is 
due  to  anxiety  for  justice,  that  judges  may  not  fail  in  passing 
judgments  by  having  to  give  sentence  offhand ;  it  is  better  that 
they  should  reflect,  and  conclude  the  case  more  tardily,  than 
that  by  judging  in  a  hurry  they  should  both  injure  the 
man  and  transgress  against  the  Deity,  the  institutor  of 
justice.     .     .     . 

"  The  Romans  treat  their  slaves  better  than  the  king  of  the 
Scythians  treats  his  subjects.  They  deal  with  them  as  fathers 
or  teachers,  admonishing  them  to  abstain  from  evil  or  follow 
the  lines  of  conduct  which  they  have  esteemed  honorable; 
they  reprove  them  for  their  errors  like  their  own  children. 
They  are  not  allowed,  like  the  Scythians,  to  inflict  death  on 
their  slaves.  They  have  numerous  ways  of  conferring  free- 
dom ;  they  can  manumit  not  only  during  life,  but  also  by  their 
wills,  and  the  testamentary  wishes  of  a  Roman  in  regard  to 
his  property  are  law." 

My  interlocutor  shed  tears,  and  confessed  that  the  laws  and 
constitution  of  the  Romans  were  fair,  but  deplored  that  the 
officials,  not  possessing  the  spirit  of  former  generations,  were 
ruining  the  state.^ 

Another  interesting  fragment  is  the  account  which 
.Malchus  gives  of  the  embassy  that  Odovacar,  the  German 
"  boss,"  dispatched  to  Constantinople  after  little  Romulus 
Augustulus  had  been  sent  away  to  a  chateau  in  the  country 
(476).  It  is  important  for  the  relations  between  the  Ger- 
man "  boss  "  and  Emperor  Zeno,  and  also  the  emperor, 
Nepos,  who  had  been  previously  driven  out  of  Rome;  and, 

iprom  J.  B.  Bury,  Later  Roman  Empire  (London,  1889),  vol.  i,  pp. 
218-219. 


509]      SOURCES  FROM  THEODOSIUS  TO  JUSTINIAN      103 

in  order  to  illustrate  further  the  style  of  these  excerpts 
relating  to  embassies,  it  is  here  inserted : 

Odovacar  compelled  the  senate  to  dispatch  an  embassy  to 
Emperor  Zeno  to  inform  him  that  they  no  longer  needed  an 
emperor  of  their  own ;  a  common  emperor  would  be  sufficient 
who  alone  should  be  supreme  ruler  of  both  boundaries  [of  the 
empire] ;  that  they  had,  moreover,  chosen  Odovacar  to  guard 
their  interests,  since  he  had  an  understanding  of  both  political 
and  military  affairs.  They  therefore  begged  Zeno  to  honor 
him  with  the  title  of  patrician  and  to  commit  to  him  the 
diocese  of  the  Italians.  The  men  from  the  Roman  senate  ar- 
rived bringing  this  message  to  Byzantium. 

During  these  days  there  came  also  messengers  from  Nepos, 
who  were  to  congratulate  Zeno  on  what  had  taken  place 
[namely,  the  overthrow  of  the  usurper  Basiliscus]  and  ask  him 
at  the  same  time  zealously  to  aid  Nepos,  who  had  been  suffer- 
ing in  the  same  way  as  he,  to  regain  his  power  by  supplying 
money  and  an  army  and  all  things  necessary  to  effect  his 
restoration.  Those  who  were  to  say  these  things  were  accord- 
ingly dispatched  by  Nepos. 

But  Zeno  made  the  following  reply  to  the  men  from  the 
senate,  namely,  that  of  the  two  emperors  they  had  received 
from  the  east,  one  they  had  driven  out,  while  Anthemius 
they  had  killed.  What  should  be  done  under  the  circumstances 
they  must  surely  perceive.  So  long  as  an  emperor  still  lived, 
there  was  no  other  policy  possible  except  that  they  should 
receive  him  when  he  returned. 

To  the  men  from  the  barbarian  [i.  e.  Odovacar]  he  replied 
that  it  would  be  wise  for  Odovacar  to  accept  the  dignity  of 
patrician  from  Emperor  Nepos;  and  that  he  himself  would 
send  it,  should  Nepos  not  anticipate  him;  and  he  praised 
Odovacar  because  he  had  shown  a  tendency  to  preserve  the 
order  established  by  the  Romans,  and  trusted  therefore  that 
Odovacar,  if  he  wished  to  do  the  fair  thing,  would  receive 
the  emperor  who  had  paid  him  these  honors.  And  sending  a 
royal  letter  to  Odovacar,  expressing  his  wishes,  he  addressed 
him  as  patrician. 


CHAPTER  X 

Sources  from  Theodosius  the  Great  to  Justinian 
(Continued)  :  The  Ecclesiastical  Historians 

ZosiMUS  was  distinctly  inferior  to  several  of  his  prede- 
cessors as  an  historical  writer,  and  the  Greek  fragments 
which  reinforce  and  continue  his  work  are  vague  and  de- 
sultory. The  decline  in  quantity  and  quality  of  sources  was 
contemporaneous  with  a  generally  admitted  weakening  of 
government,  at  least  in  the  western  provinces.  Conditions 
within  the  commonwealth  were  manifestly  growing  worse; 
there  was  less  order  and  more  bloodshed,  increasing  rob- 
bery and  decreasing  security.  The  "  good  old  days  "  lay 
behind,  not  ahead.  The  decline  was  also  attended  by  the 
rise  of  a  new  religion,  which  was  obviously  growing  in 
numbers  and  influence  at  the  expense  of  the  old  state  re- 
ligion. The  pagans  very  naturally  connected  the  two  ideas 
and  ascribed  to  Christianity  the  cause  of  imperial  weakness. 
Such  a  charge  threatened  serious  danger  to  the  new  faith, 
and  the  Christian  apologists,  who  were  developing  a  new 
kind  of  historical  philosophy,  looked  about  for  a  final  con- 
vincing answer. 

The  taunts  of  Zosimus,  or  of  people  like  him,  on  the  sack 
of  Rome  by  Alaric  and  the  Goths,  were  a  leading  factor  in 
inciting  no  less  a  man  than  Saint  Augustine  ^  to  write  his 
celebrated  City  of  God  to  show  that  that  disaster  could  not 

1  Born  in  354  and  became  bishop  of  Hippo  in  395.  He  died  in  430, 
while  his  city  was  besieged  by  the  Vandals. 

104  [510 


51 1  ]  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORIANS  105 

be  reasonably  attributed  to  the  anger  of  the  heathen  gods 
who  had  been  deserted  for  the  God  of  the  Christians : 

.  .  .  Wherefore,  touching  the  temporal  city  (which  long- 
ing after  domination,  though  it  hold  all  the  other  nations  under 
it,  yet  in  itself  is  overruled  by  the  one  lust  after  sovereignty) 
we  may  not  omit  to  speak  whatsoever  the  quality  of  our  pro- 
posed subject  shall  require  or  permit,  for  out  of  this  arise  the 
foes  against  whom  God's  city  is  to  be  guarded.  Yet  some  of 
these  reclaiming  their  impious  errors  have  become  good  citizens 
therein;  but  others  burning  with  an  extreme  violence  of  hate 
against  it,  are  so  thankless  to  the  Redeemer  of  it  for  so  mani- 
fest benefits  of  His,  that  at  this  day  they  would  not  speak  a 
word  against  it,  but  that  in  the  holy  places  thereof,  flying 
thither  from  the  sword  of  the  foe,  they  found  that  life  and 
safety  wherein  they  now  glory.  Are  not  these  Romans  become 
persecutors  of  Christ,  whom  the  very  barbarians  saved  for 
Christ's  sake?  Yes,  the  churches  of  the  Apostles  and  the 
Martyrs  can  testify  this,  which  in  that  great  sack  were  free 
both  to  their  own  and  to  strangers.  Even  thither  came  the  rage 
of  the  bloody  enemy ;  even  there  the  murderer's  fury  stopped ; 
even  thither  were  the  distressed  led  by  their  pitiful  foes  (who 
had  spared  them,  though  finding  them  out  of  those  sanctuaries) 
lest  they  should  light  upon  some  that  should  not  extend  the  like 
pity.  And  even  they  that  elsewhere  raged  in  slaughters,  coming 
but  to  those  places,  that  forbade  what  law  of  war  elsewhere 
allowed,  all  their  headlong  fury  curbed  itself,  and  all  their 
desire  of  conquest  was  conquered.  And  so  escaped  many  then, 
that  since  have  detracted  all  they  can  from  Christianity:  they 
can  impute  their  city's  other  calamities  wholly  unto  Christ,  but 
that  good  which  was  bestowed  on  them  only  for  Christ's  honor 
— namely,  the  sparing  of  their  lives — that  they  impute  not 
unto  our  Christ,  but  unto  their  own  fate ;  whereas  if  they  had 
any  judgment,  they  would  rather  attribute  these  calamities  and 
miseries  of  mortality,  all  unto  the  providence  of  God,  which 
useth  to  reform  the  corruptions  of  men's  manners,  by  war  and 
oppressions,  and   laudably  to  exercise  the  righteous  in  such 


io6  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [512 

afflictions,  and  having  so  tried  them,  either  to  transport  them 
to  a  more  excellent  estate  or  to  keep  them  longer  in  the  world 
for  other  ends  and  uses.     .     .     ,^ 

The  learned  bishop  of  Hippo,  finding  that  he  would  not 
have  time  himself  to  review  the  salient  points  in  profane 
and  sacred  history  with  a  view  to  the  proper  illustration  of 
his  elaborate  contrast  of  Christian  society  and  of  heathen- 
dom, entrusted  that  part  of  the  apology  to  his  friend  and 
pupil,  Orosius.  That  introduced  on  a  large  scale  a  new 
kind  of  historical  source,  which  was  greatly  to  influence  the 
fifth  and  subsequent  centuries. 

Orosius  had  studied  in  northern  Africa,  had  seen  Saint 
Jerome  in  Palestine,  and  when  he  wrote  his  history  (cca. ' 
417)  was  a  priest  in  Spain.  He  adopted  with  enthusiasm 
the  curious  Christian  theory  of  the  historical  development  of 
Rome  from  Adam  through  a  long  line  of  Hebrew  judges, 
kings,  and  prophets,  and  not  inappropriately  labeled  his 
work  "  Seven  Books  of  Histories  against  the  Pagans."  ^ 
Several  Christian  writers  before  him,  notably  Sextus  Julius 
Africanus,  Eusebius,  and  Jerome,  had  made  the  connection 
and  prepared  the  chronology.'  Jerome's  work  was  at  any 
rate  available  to  Orosius.  Of  the  pagan  writers,  Orosius 
made  use  chiefly  of  Justin  and  somewhat  of  Livy,  Tacitus, 
Suetonius,  Eutropius,  and  others,  although  it  is  question- 
able whether  he  quoted  all  his  authorities  directly  or  merely 
copied  quotations  from  some  one  else's  work. 

^  De  civitate  Dei,  i,  i. 

2  The  best  edition  of  Orosius  is  that  by  C.  Zangemeister  (Vienna, 
1882).  The  work,  which  was  extremely  popular  in  the  middle  ages, 
was  rewritten  in  Anglo-Saxon  by  order  of  Alfred  the  Great.  There 
is  an  English  translation  of  Alfred's  version  by  H.  Sweet  (London, 
1883). 
3  See  infra,  p.  146. 


513]  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORIANS  107 

Orosius  wrote  his  "  books  of  histories  "  to  demonstrate 
that  evils  and  calamities  were  no  novelty  in  the  world,  and 
that  the  God  of  the  Christians  was  in  fact  not  so  unkind  as 
the  gods  of  the  pagans.^  This  thesis  dominates  the  selec- 
tion and  presentation  of  all  the  facts  and  thus  destroys,  or 
at  least  fatally  weakens,  what  we  would  nowadays  term 
fair  historical  accuracy.  Only  the  last  few  pages  of  the 
seventh  book,  which  closes  with  the  year  417,  have  any  value 
for  our  purposes,  for  they  relate  to  the  writer's  own  time, 
about  which,  especially  in  Gaul  and  Spain,  little  is  known. . 
Orosius  was  on  the  ground ;  he  witnessed  barbarians  every- 
where about  him;  he  saw  them  settling  permanently  in  the 
western  provinces  and  must  have  known  a  good  deal  about 
their  organization  and  society,  how  they  fused  with  the 
Roman  citizens  and  what  was  the  effect  of  Germanic  in- 
vasions on  Roman  institutions  and  customs.  These  things, 
however,  hardly  concerned  his  thesis,  and  he  left  them 
therefore  to  be  guessed  by  mojdern  scholars.  Even  his  re- 
marks on  military  events  and  on  the  Gothic  kings  are  al- 
most invariably  vague  and  desultory  and  end  in  obscurant- 
ism or  pious  ejaculation.  The  ineffable  judgment  of  God 
infinitely  outweighs  in  his  eyes  the  specific  conduct  of  Van- 
dals, GrOths  and  Roman  citizens. 

But  with  respect  to  the  barbarians  Orosius  answered  the 
pagans  to  his  own  satisfaction,  and  the  contradictions  in 
the  reply  were  not  allowed  to  impair  its  finality.  In  the 
first  place,  it  was  the  will  of  God  that  had  brought  the  Ger- 
mans into  the  empire  to  be  converted  to  Christianity ;  in  the 

1  Something  of  the  same  kind  is  to  be  found  in  the  De  mortibus  per- 
secutorum,  usually  ascribed  to  Lactantius  (d.  cca.  340),  a  Greek  rhetor- 
ician of  Nicomedia  in  Bithynia  and  tutor  to  Constantine's  son.  The 
treatise  endeavors  to  show  what  violent  and  awful  deaths  overtook  all 
persecutors  of  Christians.  Best  edition  by  G.  Laubmann  and  S.  Brandt 
(Vienna,  1893).  An  English  translation  by  W.  Fletcher  in  Ante-Nicene 
Fathers,  vol.  vii  (New  York,  1896). 


I08  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [514 

second  place,  it  was  the  vengeance  of  God  that  had  visited 
on  the  inhabitants  of  the  empire  the  horrors  of  barbarian 
war,  just  punishment  for  sin;  and  finally,  the  injuries  suf- 
fered at  the  hands  of  the  Germans  were  not  very  great  any- 
way, quite  insignificant  compared  with  the  calamities  which 
had  befallen  pagan  Rome: 

Now  the  care  and  instruction  of  the  two  young  princes  [Ar- 
cadius  and  Honorius]  had  been  entrusted  by  the  emperor 
Theodosius  I  to  very  capable  men,  to  Rufinus  in  the  east  and 
to  Stilicho  in  the  west.  What  each  did  or  aimed  to  do,  the 
outcome  proved,  for  one  affected  the  royal  dignity  for  himself 
and  the  other  for  his  son,  so  that  in  the  suddenly  disturbed 
conditions  their  criminal  ambition  concealed  the  real  needs  of 
the  commonwealth.  Rufinus  received  barbarian  peoples  and 
Stilicho  favored  them.  I  am  silent  how  king  Alaric  with  his 
Goths  was  often  conquered,  often  surrounded,  but  always 
allowed  to  escape.  I  am  silent  concerning  those  wretched 
doings  at  Pollenzo  when  the  chief  command  was  given  to  that 
barbarian  and  pagan  duke  Saul,  by  whose  depravity  the 
holiest  days  and  sacred  Easter  even  were  profaned,^  and  an 
enemy  yielding  for  the  sake  of  religion  was  made  to  fight, 
with  the  result  that,  God  showing  in  rapid  judgment  both 
what  His  favor  avails  and  what  His  vengeance  requires,  we 
conquered  fighting  but  in  our  victory  were  vanquished.  I  am 
silent  concerning  the  numerous  destructive  feuds  among  the 
barbarians  themselves,  how  two  parties  of  the  Goths  opposed 
each  other  and  how  also  the  numbers  of  Alani  and  Goths  were 
decreased  by  all  sorts  of  slaughter. 

Radagaisus,  by  far  the  most  savage  of  all  ancient  and  pres- 
ent-day enemies,  by  sudden  attack  inundated  the  whole  of 
Italy.  They  say  there  were  more  than  two  hundred  thousand 
Goths  among  his  people.  Besides  leading  this  incredible  multi- 
tude and  displaying  indomitable  bravery,  he  was  a  pagan  and 
a   Scythian,   who,   in   accordance   with   the   custom   of  those 

1  April,  402. 


5 1 5]  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORIANS  109 

barbarous  tribes,  vowed  to  drink  to  his  gods  all  the  blood  of 
the  Roman  race.  On  his  threatening  the  fortifications  of 
Rome,  all  the  pagans  in  the  city  met  together,  saying  that  the 
enemy  was  strong  not  only  in  his  human  forces  but  most  of 
all  in  the  aid  of  the  gods,  and  that  the  city  on  the  other 
hand  was  destitute  and  would  soon  perish  because  it  had 
abandoned  the  gods  and  pagan  rites.  They  raised  great  com- 
plaints everywhere  and  discussed  the  immediate  revival  and 
celebration  of  those  rites:  blasphemy  raged  throughout  the 
city,  and  the  name  of  Christ  was  publicly  assailed  like 
any  pestilence  of  modern  times.  And  since  in  a  people,  part 
good  and  part  bad,  grace  was  due  the  pious  and  punishment 
the  impious,  the  ineffable  judgment  of  God  ordained  on  the 
one  hand  that  enemies  should  assail  the  obstinate  and  refractory 
city  with  scourges  more  than  usually  severe,  and  on  the  other 
hand  that  those  should  not  be  tolerated  who  in  excessive 
slaughter  destroyed  all  without  distinction. 

Two  Gothic  peoples  were  then  raging  throughout  the  Roman 
provinces  under  their  two  powerful  kings,  of  whom  one  was 
a  Christian  and  more  like  a  Roman  and  mild  in  slaughter 
through  fear  of  God,  as  the  event  proved,  while  the  other  was  a 
pagan  barbarian  and  a  Scythian  in  the  bargain,  who  in  his 
insatiable  cruelty  loved  fame  and  plunder  less  than  slaughter. 
The  latter  was  now  received  in  the  lap  of  Italy  and  terrified 
Rome  still  trembling  from  the  last  danger.  If  power  of 
revenge  had  been  granted  him  [Radagaisus],  whom  the 
Romans  thought  was  to  be  especially  feared  because  he  in- 
voked the  favor  of  the  gods  by  offering  sacrifices,  and  if 
greater  slaughter  had  broken  forth  without  consequent  refor- 
mation, and  error  had  anew  grown  worse  than  formerly,  then 
since  they  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  pagan  and  idolater, 
the  remaining  pagans  would  have  been  persuaded  to  restore 
the  worship  of  idols,  and  they  would  have  perilously  confused 
the  Christians.  The  latter  would  have  been  frightened  and 
the  former  confirmed  by  such  a  lesson.  Wherefore  God,  the 
just  director  of  the  human  race,  willed  that  the  pagan  enemy 


no  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [516 

should  perish  and  suffered  the  Christian  to  prevail,  so  that 
the  Roman  pagans  and  blasphemers  might  be  confounded  by 
the  destruction  of  the  one  and  punished  by  the  admission  of 
the  other,  especially  since  the  admirable  royal  restraint  and 
most  holy  faith  of  emperor  Honorius  merited  not  less  divine 
compassion. 

The  minds  and  armies  of  other  enemies  are  turned  to  aid 
against  this  most  horrible  Radagaisus.  Uldin  and  Sarus,. 
leaders  of  Huns  and  Goths,  assist  the  Romans,  but  God 
does  not  permit  the  bravery  of  men,  especially  of  enemies, 
to  seem  the  cause  of  His  power.  The  divine  Will  forces  the 
terrified  Radagaisus  into  the  mountains  of  Faesulae  and  cuts 
off  (to  state  the  minimum  estimate)  two  hundred  thousand 
men,  in  need  of  counsel  and  provision  and  hard  pressed  by 
fear,  on  the  rough  and  arid  mountain  ridge,  and  drives  the 
lines  for  whom  Italy  had  seemed  too  narrow,  now  anxious  for 
concealment,  to  one  small  peak.  Why  should  I  tarry  with 
elaborate  details  ?  A  line  of  battle  was  not  stationed ;  the  fury 
and  uncertain  fear  of  a  fight  did  not  prevail;  there  was  no 
slaughter;  blood  was  not  shed;  and  finally — what  is  usually 
distributed  under  fortunate  circumstances — the  spoils  of  battle 
were  not  weighed  after  the  victory:  ours  ate,  drank,  and 
played,  in  direct  proportion  as  the  savage  enemies  were  de- 
stroyed by  hunger,  thirst,  and  inactivity.  These  things  are  not 
enough  unless  the  Romans  know  that  the  one  whom  they  fear 
is  captured  and  imprisoned,  and  unless  they  despise  that 
idolater  himself,  whose  sacrifices  they  feigned  to  fear  more 
than  his  arms,  now  overcome  without  an  engagement  and  a 
prisoner  in  chains.  Accordingly  king  Radagaisus,  placing  his 
only  hope  in  flight,  secretly  deserted  his  followers  and  fell 
among  ours.  He  was  captured  and  after  being  held  in  custody 
a  little  while  was  put  to  death. 

There  is  said  to  have  been  so  great  a  multitude  of  Gothic 
captives,  moreover,  that  they  were  sold  in  droves  for  single 
gold  pieces  like  the  meanest  cattle.  God,  however,  permitted 
nothing  to  remain  of  this  people,  for  all  died  who  were  pur- 


517]  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORIANS  m 

chased  and  the  dishonest  buyers  mercifully  spent  for  burials 
what  they  had  disgracefully  saved  in  purchase  prices.  And 
just  as  ungrateful  Rome  now  feels  the  indirect  mercy  of  God's 
judgment  not  merely  in  decreasing  but  in  suppressing  pre- 
sumptuous idolatry,  so  on  account  of  the  pious  remembrance 
of  the  saints,  living  and  dead,  will  she  not  always  suffer  the 
full  wrath  of  God,  if  perchance  she  repents  her  disorders  and 
learns  faith  by  experience.  Wherefore  is  she  now  troubled  a 
little  while  by  the  incursion  of  king  Alaric,  an  enemy  but  a 
Christian.^ 

Orosius  is  very  hostile  to  Stilicho,  "  who  was  sprung  from 
the  unwarlike,  covetous,  perfidious  and  grievous  race  of 
Vandals,"  *  and  accuses  him  of  a  desire  to  "  substitute  his 
son  for  his  cousin  "  in  imperial  power.'  "  For  this  reason 
he  spared  Alaric  and  the  whole  Gothic  people,  who  were 
begging  simply  and  sincerely  for  a  favorable  peace  and  any 
possible  settlements,  and  in  order  to  tread  down  and  terrify 
the  commonwealth,  he  secretly  favored  them  with  an  alliance 
while  publicly  refusing  supplies  for  peace  or  war."  It  was 
for  the  same  reason  that  he  invited  various  tribes  into  Gaul 
and  Spain  and  incited  them  to  arms.  That  was  why 
"  Stilicho  was  killed  by  the  army."  * 

Orosius  gives  the  following  account  of  Alaric's  raid  on 
Rome  in  410,  which  many  later  writers  have  made  of 
epochal  importance: 

Alaric  it  is  who  besieges,  alarms  and  finally  sacks  anxious 
Rome,  only  after  giving  commands,  however,  that  refugees  iti 

1  vii,  37. 

2  Saint  Jerome  (^Ep.  ad  Gerontiam)  calls  Stilicho  a  "semi-barbar- 
ian."   Cf.  the  praises  of  Claudian,  infra,  p.  138. 

'  Stilicho  had  married  Serena,  the  cousin  of  Honorius.  Serena  was 
the  daughter  of  the  elder  Honorius  and  a  niece  of  Theodosius  the 
Great. 

*  vii,  38. 


112  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [518 

the  holy  places  and  especially  in  the  basilica  of  the  holy 
apostles  Peter  and  Paul  are  to  be  left  quite  secure  and  invio- 
late, and  further  that  those  who  desire  to  pillage  shall  refrain 
as  far  as  possible  from  bloodshed.  It  also  befell  (which 
proves  that  this  sack  of  the  city  was  caused  by  the  wrath  of 
God  rather  than  by  the  enemy's  bravery)  that  blessed  Innocent, 
bishop  of  the  Roman  city,  who  had  departed  like  virtuous  Lot 
from  Sodom  by  God's  hidden  providence  and  was  then  at 
Ravenna,  did  not  behold  the  destruction  of  the  sinful  people. 
While  the  barbarians  were  scurrying  through  the  city,  by 
<;hance  one  of  the  Goths,  of  powerful  physique  and  a  Chris- 
tian withal,  found  in  a  certain  church  house  a  consecrated 
virgin  well  along  in  years,  of  whom  he  respectfully  demanded 
gold  and  silver.  She  replied  with  confidence  that  there  was 
much  in  her  house  and  that  she  would  fetch  it  at  once.  She 
did  fetch  it,  and  when  on  uncovering  the  articles  she  perceived 
the  amazement  of  the  barbarian  at  the  size,  weight,  and 
beauty,  as  well  as  at  the  imknown  nature  of  the  utensils,  the 
maid  of  Christ  said  to  him :  "  These  are  the  sacred  vessels  of 
the  apostle  Peter.  Presume  if  thou  darest;  thou  shalt  have 
the  deed  on  thy  conscience.  For  my  part,  what  I  am  unable 
to  defend  I  dare  not  keep."  The  barbarian,  struck  with  re- 
verential awe  by  the  fear  of  God  and  the  maid's  faith,  re- 
ported the  matter  by  messenger  to  Alaric,  who  ordered  all  the 
vessels  to  be  promptly  returned  just  as  they  were  to  the 
basilica  of  the  Apostle,  and  the  virgin  together  with  all  Chris- 
tians who  might  join  her  to  be  conducted  under  the  same  es- 
cort. Her  house,  they  say,  was  a  long  distance  from  the  holy 
places  and  from  the  center  of  the  city.  The  gold  and  silver 
vessels  are  thereupon  distributed  in  regular  order  in  full  view 
of  everyone  and  are  carried  aloft  on  the  people's  heads ;  the 
pious  procession  is  protected  on  all  sides  by  drawn  swords, 
and  a  hymn  is  publicly  intoned  to  God  by  mingled  Romans  and 
barbarians  and  in  the  midst  of  the  city's  destruction  the  trum- 
pet of  salvation  resounds  far  and  wide,  inviting  and  drawing 
forth  everyone  from  concealment  to  accompany  as  vessels  of 


^19]  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORIANS  113 

Christ  these  vessels  of  Peter.  To  them  are  added  many 
pagans  who  escape  until  the  time  when  they  are  to  be  worse 
confounded.  The  more  numerous  the  Roman  refugees  col- 
lect, the  more  eagerly  do  they  surround  the  barbarian  guards. 
O  holy  and  ineflfable  discernment  of  divine  judgment !  O  that 
holy  and  salutary  stream,  which  taking  its  rise  from  the  little 
house  and  flowing  in  its  blessed  channel  to  the  seats  of  the 
saints,  carried  imperiled  and  weary  souls  in  irresistible  piety 
on  its  waves  of  safety!  O  that  admirable  trumpet  of  the 
Christian  army,  which,  inviting  in  sweetest  tone  all  without 
distinction  to  life,  aroused  not  the  disobedient  to  salvation  and 
left  the  inexcusable  to  death !  This  wonderful  event  of  trans- 
porting vessels,  chanting  hymns,  and  popular  procession,  was 
methinks  like  a  great  sieve,  through  the  openings  of  which  the 
live  kernels  from  the  aggregate  of  the  Roman  people  as  from 
a  large  quantity  of  grain,  shaken  by  chance  or  truth,  issued 
forth  from  their  hiding  places  throughout  the  whole  extent 
of  the  city.  All  their  faith  in  present  safety  was  derived  from 
the  storehouse  of  the  Lord's  disposals,  and  the  rest  of  the 
people  were  left  by  their  incredulity  or  premeditated  dis- 
obedience, like  dung  or  chaff,  to  be  destroyed  and  burned. 
Who  can  weigh  these  complete  miracles  with  deliberation ; 
who  can  declare  them  with  worthy  praise? 

The  barbarians  left  the  city  of  their  own  accord  on  the  third 
day  after  their  entrance.  There  was  of  course  considerable 
burning  of  buildings,  but  less  indeed  than  happened  by  acci- 
dent 700  A.  U.  C.,^  and  if  I  review  the  conflagration  set  by 
emperor  Nero  for  spectacular  purposes,  there  will  doubtless 
be  no  comparison  between  that  which  a  mad  prince  incited 
and  this  which  a  conqueror's  wrath  inflicted.  Nor  need  I 
for  like  purposes  of  comparison  call  to  mind  the  Gauls  who 
for  almost  a  year  were  masters  of  the  ashes  of  the  burned  and 
desolate  city.  And  lest  anyone  might  doubt  perchance  whether 
the  enemy  were  suffered  in  order  to  correct  the  pride,  licen- 
tiousness, and  blasphemy  of  the  city,  it  happened  at  the  same 

1  After  the  funeral  of  Clodius,  52  B.  C. 


114  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [520 

time  that  the  most  famous  places  in  the  city  which  escaped 
burning  by  the  enemy  were  destroyed  by  Hghtning. 

Thus  in  1164  A.  U.  C,  the  city  was  sacked  by  Alaric.  Al- 
though this  event  is  of  recent  occurrence,  nevertheless  if  you 
should  see  and  hear  the  crowd  of  people  at  Rome,  you  would 
think,  as  they  themselves  declare,  that  nothing  had  happened, 
unless  you  should  chance  to  be  shown  the  ruins  of  the  fire, 
which  are  still  standing.  Placidia,  the  daughter  of  emperor 
Theodosius  and  sister  of  emperors  Arcadius  and  Honorius» 
was  captured  in  this  raid  by  Ataulf,  Alaric's  kinsman,  and 
taken  to  wife,  just  as  if  Rome  by  a  kind  of  divine  judgment 
had  delivered  her  as  a  special  pledge  and  hostage ;  and  she  was 
thus  joined  to  the  most  powerful  relative  of  the  barbarian 
king  and  one  who  was  very  friendly  to  the  commonwealth.^ 

The  writer  makes  passing  mention  of  several  tyrants  or 
usurpers  during  the  reign  of  Honorius  and  blames  them  for 
most  of  the  barbarian  broils.  It  was  one  of  these,  Con- 
stantine,  who  sent  into  Spain  "  those  barbarians  who  had 
previously  been  received  as  foederati  ^  and  were  now  en- 
rolled in  the  army  and  called  Honoriaci,"  who,  *'  being  in- 
spired by  booty  and  allured  by  plenty,  abandoned  the  de- 
fenses of  the  Pyrenees  and  admitted  through  the  open  passes 
into  the  Spanish  provinces  all  those  tribes  who  were  ravag- 
ing Gaul  and  who  now  united  with  themselves."  Precisely 
what  happened  is  obscured  in  these  words: 

Spain  is  invaded;  slaughter  and  devastation  are  endured;  yet 
what  is  borne  at  the  hands  of  the  barbarians  during  these  two 
years  while  the  hostile  sword  is  unsheathed  presents  nothing 
new  as  compared  to  what  the  Romans  have  suffered  for  two 
hundred  years,  or  even  to  the  destruction  wrought  by  Germans 

1  vii,  39,  40. 

2  By  Theodosius.  Zosimus  (iv,  40)  and  Jordanes  (20)  mention  the 
Gothic  foederati.  The  earliest  extant  application  of  the  term  to  the 
Goths  is  in  the  Theodosian  Code,  vii,  13,  16  (A.  D.  406). 


52 1  ]  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORIANS  115 

for  upwards  of  twelve  years  under  emperor  Gallienus.  What 
man,  moreover,  who  fears  God's  judgments  on  his  thoughts  and 
deeds  or  on  those  of  his  household,  will  not  acknowledge  that 
he  justly  suffers  every  ill  and  that  he  is  even  now  sustaining 
little  punishment?  Or  how  does  he  who  knows  not  self  or 
fears  not  God,  bear  this  small  punishment  unjustly?  Where- 
fore, God's  mercy  brought  this  to  pass  with  the  same  good- 
ness with  which  it  had  been  prophesied,  so  that  in  accordance 
with  his  enduring  admonition  in  the  gospel :  "  When  they  shall 
persecute  you  in  one  city,  flee  into  another,"  ^  whoever  wished 
to  enter  or  leave  could  employ  barbarian  mercenaries,  ser- 
vants, and  guards.  The  latter  offered  their  services,  more- 
over; and  those  who  were  able  to  take  away  everything  after 
the  general  destruction  demanded  a  small  fee  in  payment  for 
their  service  and  the  burden  of  conveyance.  This  was  ob- 
tained by  many.  On  the  other  hand,  those  stubborn  ones 
who  believed  not  the  gospel  of  God,  being  doubly  stubborn 
if  they  would  not  hear,  and  who  would  not  surrender  a 
place  condemned  by  God's  wrath,  were  justly  overtaken  and 
oppressed  by  an  unexpected  wrath. 

The  detestable  barbarians  are  now,  however,  continually 
converting  their  swords  into  ploughshares  and  favoring  the 
remaining  Romans  as  real  friends  and  allies,  so  that  among 
them  are  to  be  found  even  Romans  who  prefer  to  endure 
poor  liberty  among  barbarians  than  tributary  anxiety  among 
the  Romans.  If  the  barbarians  are  admitted  to  Roman  terri- 
tory for  this  reason  alone  that  the  churches  of  Christ  in  east 
and  west  may  be  filled  with  Huns,  Suevi,  Vandals,  Burgun- 
dians,  and  countless  nations  of  believers,  God's  mercy  must 
obviously  be  praised  and  extolled,  because  in  spite  of  ma- 
terial injury  to  ourselves,  so  many  tribes  receive  a  knowledge 
of  the  truth  which  they  could  learn  by  no  other  means.  For 
what  punishment  is  it  to  the  Christian  who  longs  for  eternal 
life  to  be  taken  out  of  this  world  at  any  time  or  in  any  way? 
And  what  gain  is  it,  moreover,  to  the  pagan  who  in  the  midst 

1  Matth.  X,  23. 


Il6  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [522 

of  Christians  is  obdurate  against  the  faith  to  prolong  his 
days  a  little  if  finally  on  his  deathbed  his  conversion  be  still 
despaired  of? 

And  although  the  judgments  of  God  are  ineffable,  and  we 
are  unable  to  know  them  all  or  to  account  for  what  we  do 
know,  I  would  briefly  venture  the  suggestion  that,  by  the  work- 
ing out  of  the  same  law,  both  those  who  know  and  those  who 
do  not  know,  incur  with  justice  the  correction  of  God's  judg- 
ment.^ 

Orosius  lauds  the  achievements  of  count  Constantius  in 
destroying  the  whole  catalogue  of  open  usurpers  and  re- 
bellious dukes,  for  by  his  efforts  and  the  initiative  of  pious 
Honorius  "  peace  and  unity  have  been  restored  to  the  Catho- 
lic Church  throughout  Africa  .  .  .  and  the  body  of  Christ, 
which  we  are,  is  healed  of  destructive  schism."  ^ 

In  1 168  A.  U.  C  count  Constantius  established  himself  at 
Aries,  a  city  of  Gaul,  and  with  great  activity  in  the  conduct 
of  affairs,  expelled  the  Goths  from  Narbonne  *  and  forced 
them  to  withdraw  into  Spain,  the  passage  of  ships  and  traders 
being  wholly  forbidden  and  stopped.  King  Ataulf  then  ruled 
the  Gothic  peoples.^  He  had  married  Placidia,  the  emperor's 
sister,  who  was  captured,  as  I  have  said,  and  succeeded  Alaric 
in  the  kingdom  after  the  sack  of  the  city  and  the  death  of 
Alaric.  He  was  an  eager  partisan  of  peace,  as  was  often 
rumored  and  eventually  demonstrated,  who  chose  to  fight 
loyally  in  behalf  of  emperor  Honorius  and  to  spend  the 
strength  of  the  Goths  in  defence  of  the  Roman  commonwealth. 
When  I  was  at  Bethlehem,  a  town  of  Palestine,  I  heard  a 
citizen  of  Narbonne,  who  had  served  with  distinction  under 
Theodosius,  and  who  was  besides  a  wise  and  religious  person, 
tell  most  blessed  Jerome,  the  priest,  that  he  had  been  on  very 
familiar  terms  with  Ataulf  at  Narbonne  and  had  frequently 

1  vii,  41.  2  vii,  42.  3  A.  D.  414.  J. 

*  The  province  of  that  name.  ''  A.  D.  410-415. 


523]  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORIANS  ny 

heard  him  affirm  that,  in  the  first  exuberance  of  his  strength 
and  spirits,  he  had  ardently  desired  to  obHterate  the  Roman 
name  and  make  the  Roman  empire  entirely  and  solely  Gothic : 
in  fact,  to  use  vulgar  speech,  to  turn  '*  Romania "  into 
"  Gothia,"  ^  and  to  make  himself,  Ataulf,  all  that  Caesar 
Augustus  had  once  been.  But  when  he  had  learned  by  long 
experience  that  the  Goths  would  obey  no  laws  on  account  of 
their  unrestrained  barbarism,  yet  that  it  was  wrong  to  de- 
prive the  commonwealth  of  laws,  without  which  the  common- 
wealth is  not  the  commonwealth,  he  at  least  for  his  part  had 
chosen  to  have  the  glory  of  restoring  entire  and  of  magnifying 
the  Roman  name  by  Gothic  vigor,  and  he  wished  to  be  looked 
upon  by  posterity  as  the  author  of  the  Roman  restoration, 
since  he  could  not  be  its  transformer.  Wherefore,  being  es- 
pecially influenced  in  every  good  provision  by  the  advice  and 
counsel  of  his  wife,  Placidia,  a  woman  of  very  acute  judgment 
and  sincere  piety,  he  strove  to  refrain  from  war  and  to  stand 
open  to  peace.  And  when  he  persisted  most  earnestly  in 
seeking  and  granting  peace,  he  was  slain  at  Barcelona  by 
treachery,  they  say,  of  his  own  people. 

After  him,  Segericus  was  made  king  of  the  Goths,  and 
would  likewise  have  been,  by  God's  judgment,  favorably  in- 
clined to  peace,  but  he  was  killed  by  his  people. 

Then  Vallia  succeeded  to  the  kingdom.  He  was  chosen 
by  the  Goths  to  break  the  peace,  but  he  was  ordained  by  God 
to  confirm  peace.  He  was  severely  frightened  by  God's  judg- 
ment, because  in  a  former  year  a  Gothic  expedition,  well- 
equipped  with  arms  and  ships,  in  trying  to  cross  to  Africa 
had  been  overtaken  by  a  storm  within  twelve  miles  of  the 
strait  of  Gibraltar,  and  perished  wretchedly ;  and  also  because 
he  still  remembered  the  fleet  which  had  been  prepared  under 

1  These  colloquialisms  are  suggestive.  See  Burjr's  edition  of  Gibbon, 
vol.  i,  p.  148,  note.  The  word  "  Romania "  seems  to  have  been  put 
chiefly  in  the  mouths  of  persons  without  the  empire,  or  used  by 
writers  when  they  are  looking  at  the  empire  from  an  enemy's  point  of 
view. 


^ 


Il8  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [524 

Alaric's  direction,  and  how  the  Goths  had  attempted  to  cross 
to  Sicily,  but  had  been  shipwrecked  in  full  view  of  their  own 
people  and  drowned.  Wherefore  he  gave  most  excellent 
hostages  and  concluded  a  highly  favorable  peace  with  em- 
peror Honorius;  he  moreover  returned  the  emperor's  sister, 
Placidia,  whom  he  honorably  and  sincerely  esteemed.  His 
own  danger  he  sacrificed  to  Roman  security,  inasmuch  as 
he  himself  fought  against  the  other  tribes  who  were  settled 
throughout  Spain,  and  conquered  them  for  the  Romans. 

On  their  side,  the  kings  of  the  Alani,  Vandals,  and  Suevi, 
might,  with  pleasure  to  us,  be  represented  as  bidding  emperor 
Honorius,  "  Keep  peace  with  all  of  us  and  accept  hostages 
from  all ;  we  fight  and  destroy  one  another ;  we  conquer  to 
your  advantage  and  to  that  of  your  eternal  commonwealth  if 
we  destroy  each  other."  Who  could  believe  this  if  he  did  not 
see  it?  Thus  we  hear  now  every  day  frequent  and  reliable 
news  in  Spain  of  conflicts  and  defeats  sustained  by  this  or 
that  barbarian  tribe,  and  especially  of  the  maintenance  of 
peace  by  Vallia,  king  of  the  Goths.  If  history  shows  any- 
thing of  like  felicity  from  the  creation  of  the  world  up  to  the 
present  time,  I  would  concede  that  Christian  times  are  really 
reprehensible     .     .     .     ^ 

Orosius  concludes  his  history  at  this  point  with  a  re- 
statement of  his  thesis  and  a  reverent  tribute  to  Saint 
Augustine. 

A  very  few  facts  about  the  Germanic  invasions  which 
might  otherwise  have  escaped  us  are  supplied  by  the  more 
formal  and  perhaps  more  reliable  Greek  and  Latin  historians 
of  the  Christian  Church.  Eusebius  of  Caesarea  wrote  an 
Ecclesiastical  History  in  ten  books,  extending  from  the 
origin  of  Christianity  to  A.  D.  324.  The  guiding  idea  of 
Eusebius  in  this  work,  as  in  his  Panegyric  on  Constantine 

^  vii,  43. 


525]  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORIANS  ng 

and  his  Life  of  Constantine,  was  the  establishment  of  a 
Christian  empire,  for  which  Constantine  was  the  chosen 
instrument.  The  Ecclesiastical  History  was  translated  from 
Greek  into  Latin  by  Rufinus,  a  priest  at  Aquileia  in  the  late 
fourth  century,  who  made  alterations  and  added  a  supple- 
ment in  two  books  extending  to  the  death  of  Theodosius  the 
Great  (395).^  Three  independent  Greek  continuators  of 
Eusebius — Sozomen,^  Socrates,'  and  Theodoret  * — covered 
the  first  third  of  the  fifth  century.  Extracts  from  these 
histories  were  selected  and  translated  from  Greek  into 
Latin  by  Epiphanius  and  edited  by  Cassiodorus,  the  prime 
minister  of  king  Theodoric.     The  compilation  was  called 

1  The  history  of  Eusebius  is  edited  by  G.  Dindorf  (Leipzig,  1871) 
and  by  F.  A.  Heinichen  (Leipzig,  1868-70).  The  version  of  Rufinus 
is  in  Migne,  Patrol.  Lot.,  vol.  xxi,  pp.  461-540.  There  is  an  English 
translation  with  excellent  notes  by  A.  C.  McGiffert  in  Nicene  and  Post- 
Nkene  Fathers,  vol.  i  (New  York,  1890).  The  writings  of  Rufinus 
are  translated  by  W.  H.  Fremantle  in  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Fathers, 
vol.  iii  (New  York,  1892). 

^  Hermias  Sozomenus  Salaminius  (d.  cca.  450  at  Constantinople). 
His  history,  covering  the  years  323  to  439,  is  in  Migne,  Patrol.  Graec, 
vol.  XXV,  and  has  been  separately  edited  by  R.  Hussey,  3  vols.  (Ox- 
ford, 1859-60).  English  translation  by  C.  D.  Hartranft  in  Nicene  and 
Post-Nicene  Fathers,  vol.  ii  (New  York,  1890).  See  J.  Rosenstein, 
■"  Kritische  Untersuchungen  iiber  d.  Verhaltniss  zwischen  Olympiodor, 
Zosimus  u.  Sozomenus "  in  Forschungen  sur  deutschen  Geschichte, 
vol.  i,  pp.  167-204. 

3  The  work  of  Socrates,  embracing  the  years  306  to  439,  is  in  Migne, 
Patrol.  Graec,  vol.  xxv,  and  is  also  edited  by  R.  Hussey,  3  vols.  (Ox- 
ford, 1853).  English  translation  by  A.  C.  Zenos  in  Nicene  and  Post- 
Nicene  Fathers,  vol.  ii  (New  York,  1890). 

♦  Theodoretus,  bishop  of  Cyrrhus  in  Syria  (d.  457),  deals  with  the 
period  325-427.  Edited  by  Migne,  Patrol.  Graec,  vols.  Ixxx-lxxxiv. 
English  translation  by  B.  Jackson  in  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Fathers, 
vol.  iii  (New  York,  1892).  See  A.  Giildenpenning,  Die  Kirchenge- 
schichte  des  Theodoret  von  Kyrrhos,  eine  Untersuchung  ihrer  Quellen 
(Halle,  1889). 


I20  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [526 

the  Historia  tripartita,  and  was  widely  used  throughout  the 
middle  age  as  the  leading  manual  of  ecclesiastical  history. 
Full  of  contradictions  and  often  incoherent,  poorly  arranged 
in  slavishly  chronological  order,  it  has  small  value  for  our 
purposes.  All  these  ecclesiastical  histories  devote  slightly 
less  attention  to  miracles  and  monks  than  do  the  apologies 
and  saints'  lives,  but  their  exhaustive  treatment  of  the 
heresies  of  the  age  leaves  little  space  for  political  or  social 
record. 

In  the  same  class  belongs  the  Historia  sacra  ^  of  Sulpi- 
cius  Severus  (d.  cca.  410),  a  native  of  Aquitaine.  It  is 
divided  into  two  books,  the  first  extending  from  the  creation 
of  the  world  to  the  Babylonian  captivity  of  the  Jews,  and  the 
second  to  A.  D.  397.  It  is  the  earliest  sacred  history  written 
in  Latin,  and  from  the  standpoint  of  language  and  style  is 
an  excellent  piece  of  work:  it  indicates  that  ancient  culture 
still  influenced  men  in  Gaul.  Sulpicius  Severus  never  men- 
tions his  non-biblical  authorities.  He  neither  intended  nor 
furnished  a  scientific  history,  but  compiled  rather  a  good 
and  pleasant  book  for  general  reading. 

1  Edited  by  C.  Halm  (Vienna,  1866).  There  is  an  English  transla- 
tion by  A.  Roberts  in  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Fathers,  vol.  xi  (New 
York,  1893),  and  an  especially  good  French  translation  by  A.  Laver- 
tujon,  2  vols.  (Paris,  1896-1899).  Sulpicius's  biography  of  Saint 
Martin  of  Tours  (d.  397)  is  a  pious  romance  attesting  the  author's 
veneration  of  his  hero  and  full  of  miraculous  adventures.  Like  other 
saints'  lives,  it  portrays  the  general  conditions  of  the  time,  and  is  an 
excellent  source  if  considered  in  that  way. 


CHAPTER  XI 

Sources  from  Theodosius  the  Great  to  Justinian 
(Continued)  :  Other  Christian  Writers 

The  disorders  and  general  unrest  of  the  fifth  century 
made  a  deep  impression  on  many  Christian  writers,  who 
saw  in  them  a  punishment  for  the  grievous  sins  of  the  Ro- 
man world.     These  writers  were  only  preaching  sermons^ 
in  which  they  very  naturally  exaggerated  the  punishment  a 
they  exaggerated  the  sins.      Their  gloomy  picture  coul 
be  expected  to  enhance  the  awfulness  of  the  foreshadow© 
end  of  all  things  and  the  advantage  of  a  speedy  transfer  of 
affection  from  mundane  affairs  to  the  life  of  the  world  to 
come.     The  rising  asceticism  in  Christianity  was  especially 
potent  in  fostering  this  feeling  about  the  Germans. 

Saint  Jerome  ^  himself  embraced  the  monastic  life,  and 
his  letters  written  from  Bethlehem  make  frequent  mention 
of  the  barbarians.  The  following  extract  from  a  letter 
written  in  395  *  is  an  example: 

Behold,  suddenly  messengers  rush  hither  and  thither,  and  the 

^  Born  in  Dalmatia  cca.  340,  lived  a  while  in  Gaul,  then  in  the  desert 
of  Chalcis,  became  a  priest  at  Antioch  in  379,  a  secretary  to  Pope 
Damasus  in  382,  for  whom  he  began  his  work  on  the  Vulgate,  and  in 
386  fixed  his  residence  in  Bethlehem,  where  he  died  in  420.  His  edition 
and  continuation  of  the  chronicle  of  Eusebius  has  already  been  noted 
(see  supra,  p.  97).  Jerome,  despite  his  erudition  and  travel,  gives  an 
impression  in  many  of  his  epistles  and  minor  works  of  possessing 
some  journalistic  characteristics  which  we  would  now  style  "  yellow  ". 

-  Epistle  Ixxvii,  8.  Translation  in  J.  B.  Bury,  Later  Roman  Empire, 
vol.  i,  p.  69. 

527]  121 


122  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [528 

whole  East  trembles  with  the  news  that  from  the  far  Maeotis, 
from  the  land  of  the  ice-bound  Don  and  the  savage  Massa- 
getae,  where  the  strong  works  of  Alexander  on  the  Caucasian 
cliffs  keep  back  the  wild  nations,  swarms  of  Huns  burst  forth, 
and  flying  hither  and  thither  scatter  slaughter  and  terror 
everywhere,  the  Roman  army  being  absent  in  consequence  of 
the  civil  wars  in  Italy     .     .     . 

May  Jesus  protect  the  Roman  world  in  future  from  such 
beasts !  They  were  everywhere,  when  they  were  least  ex- 
pected, and  their  speed  outstripped  the  rumor  of  their  ap- 
proach; they  spared  neither  religion  nor  dignity  nor  age;  they 
showed  no  pity  to  the  cry  of  infancy.  Babes,  who  had  not 
yet  begun  to  live,  were  forced  to  die;  and  ignorant  of  the 
evils  that  were  upon  them,  as  they  were  held  in  the  hands  and 
threatened  by  the  swords  of  the  enemy,  there  was  a  smile 
upon  their  lips.  There  was  a  consistent  and  universal  report 
that  Jerusalem  was  the  goal  of  the  foes,  and  that  on  account 
of  their  insatiable  lust  for  gold  they  were  hastening  to  this 
city.  The  walls,  neglected  by  the  carelessness  of  peace,  were 
repaired.  Antioch  was  enduring  a  blockade.  Tyre,  fain  to 
break  off  from  the  dry  land,  sought  its  ancient  island.  Then 
we  too  were  constrained  to  provide  ships,  to  stay  on  the  sea- 
shore, to  take  precautions  against  the  arrival  of  the  enemy, 
and,  though  the  winds  were  wild,  to  fear  a  shipwreck  less 
than  the  barbarians — making  provision  not  for  our  own  safety 
so  much  as  for  the  chastity  of  our  virgins. 

In  another  letter,^  Jerome  dwells  on  the  wretchedness  and 
misery  of  human  society,  which  he  also  illustrates  by  the 
raids  of  Alaric  and  the  fate  of  Rufinus  and  Timasius. 
Speaking  of  the  "  wolves  of  the  north,"  he  asks : 

How  many  monasteries  were  captured?  The  waters  of  how 
many  rivers  were  stained  with  human  gore?  Antioch  was 
besieged  and  the  other  cities,  past  which  the  Halys,  the  Cydnus, 

^  396.    Epistle  Ix,  16.    From  J.  B.  Bury,  Later  Roman  Empire. 


529]  OTHER  CHRISTIAN  WRITERS  123 

the  Orontes,  and  the  Euphrates  flow.  Herds  of  captives  were 
dragged  away;  Arabia,  Phoenicia,  Palestine,  Egypt  were  lead 
captive  by  fear. 

Jerome  indulges  in  similar  hysterical  writing  about  the 
fate  of  the  entire  empire: 

O  wretched  state!  .  .  .  For  a  long  time,  from  the  Black 
Sea  to  the  Julian  Alps,  those  things  which  are  ours  have  not 
been  ours ;  and  for  thirty  years,  since  the  Danube  boundary 
was  broken,  war  has  been  waged  in  the  very  midst  of  the 
Roman  empire.  Our  tears  are  dried  by  old  age.  Except  a 
few  old  men,  all  were  born  in  captivity  and  siege,  and  do  not 
desire  the  liberty  they  never  knew.  Who  could  believe  this? 
How  could  the  whole  tale  be  worthily  told?  How  Rome 
has  fought  within  her  own  bosom  not  for  glory,  but  for  pre- 
servation— nay,  how  she  has  not  even  fought,  but  with  gold 
and  all  her  precious  things  has  ransomed  her  life    .    .    .    ^ 

Yet  the  consecration  of  a  single  woman  to  a  life  of  perpetual 
virginity  calls  forth  a  letter  in  very  different  strain: 

Italy  changed  her  garments  of  mourning,  and  the  ruined  walls 
of  Rome  almost  resumed  their  former  glory.  This  signal  in- 
stance of  Divine  favor  made  the  Romans  feel  as  if  the  Gothic 
army,  that  off-scouring  of  all  things,  made  up  of  slaves  and 
deserters,  were  already  cut  to  pieces.  It  made  them  rejoice 
more  than  their  ancestors  had  done  over  the  first  victory  which 
succeeded  the  terrible  disaster  of  Cannae." 

Such  effusions,  if  taken  together,  might  furnish  us  with 
data  for  a  study  of  the  character  and  style  of  Saint  Jerome, 
but  not  with  a  trustworthy  setting  for  a  history  of  the  Ger- 
manic invasions.  The  personality,  the  aims,  the  method, 
of  this  monk  of  Bethlehem  are  all  opposed   to  accuracy 

1  Ep.  ad  Ageruchiatn,  Migne,  Patrol.  Lat.,  xxii,  cols.  1057  et  seq. 
-  Epistle  to  Demetrias. 


124  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [530 

of  general  statement.  But  incrnsted  in  his  writings,  as 
in  others  of  the  period,  are  many  incidental  remarks  of 
real  historical  value,  and  we  must  carefully  sift  facts  from 
metaphors,  prose  from  poetry,  reason  from  imagination. 
The  obviously  oratorical  exaggeration  in  such  passages  as 
that  quoted  above, — "  How  many  monasteries  were  cap- 
tured ?  The  waters  of  how  many  rivers  were  stained  with 
human  gore?" — does  not  disprove  that  Antioch  was  be- 
sieged by  barbarians ;  nor  have  we  reason  to  reject  the  im- 
plication that  some  Roman  citizens  were  taken  prisoners, 
for  the  chances  are  that  fact  afforded  the  opportunity 
for  Jerome's  outpouring  of  words, — "Arabia,  Phoenicia, 
Palestine,  Egypt  were  led  captive  by  fear." 

Much  the  same  criticism  can  be  made  of  Salvian,  a  native 
of  Cologne,  who  was  a  priest  at  Marseilles  in  the  first  half 
of  the  fifth  century,  and  who  wrote,  in  addition  to  several 
strictly  religious  treatises,  a  work  entitled  Eight  Books  on 
the  Government  of  God}  If  Salvian  is  slightly  freer  from 
journalistic  rhetoric  than  Jerome  and  perhaps  a  little  less 
touched  by  the  horrors  of  the  situation,  he  is  certainly  not 
more  trustworthy  as  an  impartial  historian  or  observer.  He 
finds  in  the  barbarians  not  only  the  agent  of  God's  vengeance 
but  also  an  uplifting  example,  an  incentive  to  holier  living. 
The  reader  feels  instinctively  that  Salvian  in  his  sermon- 
izing and  moralizing  efforts  makes  the  Roman  citizens  too 
bad  and  the  German  immigrants  too  good: 

In  what  respects  can  our  customs  be  preferred  to  those  of  the 
Goths  and  Vandals,  or  even  compared  with  them?  And  first, 
to  speak  of  affection  and  mutual  charity  (which,  our  Lord 
teaches,  is  the  chief  virtue,  saying,  "  By  this  shall  all  men 
know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  an- 
other"), almost  all  barbarians,  at  least  those  who  are  of  one 

'^De  gubernatione  Dei.     Edited  by  F.  PauUy  (Vienna,  1883). 


53 1 ]  OTHER  CHRISTIAN  WRITERS  125 

race  and  kin,  love  each  other,  while  the  Romans  persecute 
each  other.  For  what  citizen  does  not  envy  his  fellow- 
citizen  ?     What  citizen  shows  to  his  neighbor  full  charity  ? 

[The  Romans  oppress  each  other  with  exactions]  nay,  not 
each  other:  it  would  be  quite  tolerable,  if  each  suffered  what 
he  inflicted.  It  is  worse  than  that;  for  the  many  are  op- 
pressed by  the  few,  who  regard  public  exactions  as  their  own 
peculiar  right,  who  carry  on  private  traffic  under  the  guise  of 
collecting  the  taxes.  And  this  is  done  not  only  by  nobles,  but 
by  men  of  the  lowest  rank ;  not  by  judges  only  but  by  judges' 
subordinates.  For  where  is  the  city — even  the  town  or  vil- 
lage— which  has  not  as  many  tyrants  as  it  has  curials?  .  .  . 
What  place  is  there,  therefore,  as  I  have  said,  where  the  sub- 
stance of  widows  and  orphans,  nay  even  of  the  saints,  is  not 
devoured  by  the  chief  citizens?  .  .  .  None  but  the  great 
is  secure  from  the  devastations  of  these  plundering  brigands, 
except  those  who  are  themselves  robbers     .     .     . 

[Nay,  the  state  has  fallen  upon  such  evil  days  that  a  man 
cannot  be  safe  unless  he  is  wicked].  Even  those  in  a  posi- 
tion to  protest  against  the  iniquity  which  they  see  about  them 
dare  not  speak  lest  they  make  matters  worse  than  before. 
So  the  poor  are  despoiled,  the  widows  sigh,  the  orphans  are 
oppressed,  until  many  of  them,  born  of  families  not  obscure, 
and  liberally  educated,  flee  to  our  enemies  that  they  may  no 
longer  suffer  the  oppression  of  public  persecution.  They 
doubtless  seek  Roman  humanity  among  the  barbarians,  be- 
cause they  cannot  bear  barbarian  inhumanity  among  the  Ro- 
mans. And  although  they  differ  from  the  people  to  whom 
they  flee  in  manner  and  in  language;  although  they  are  unlike 
as  regards  the  fetid  odor  of  the  barbarians'  bodies  and  gar- 
ments, yet  they  would  rather  endure  a  foreign  civilization 
among  the  barbarians  than  cruel  injustice  among  the  Romans. 

So  they  migrate  to  the  Goths,  or  to  the  Bagaudes,  or  to 
some  other  tribe  of  the  barbarians  who  are  ruling  everywhere, 
and  do  not  regret  their  exile.  For  they  would  rather  live  free 
under  an  appearance  of  slavery  than  live  as  captives  under 


126  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [532 

an  appearance  of  liberty.  The  name  of  Roman  citizen,  once 
so  highly  esteemed  and  so  dearly  bought,  is  now  a  thing  that 
men  repudiate  and  flee  from     .     .     . 

It  is  urged  that  if  we  Romans  are  wicked  and  corrupt,  that 
the  barbarians  commit  the  same  sins,  and  are  not  so  miserable 
as  we.  There  is,  however,  this  difference,  that  if  the  bar- 
barians commit  the  same  crimes  as  we,  yet  we  sin  more  griev- 
ously ,  .  .  All  the  barbarians,  as  we  have  already  said,  are 
pagans  or  heretics.  The  Saxon  race  is  cruel,  the  Franks  are 
faithless,  the  Gepidae  are  inhuman,  the  Huns  are  unchaste, — 
in  short,  there  is  vice  in  the  life  of  all  the  barbarian  peoples. 
But  are  their  offenses  as  serious  as  ours?  Is  the  unchastity 
of  the  Hun  so  criminal  as  ours?  Is  the  faithlessness  of  the 
Frank  so  blameworthy  as  ours?  Is  the  intemperance  of  the 
Alamanni  so  base  as  the  intemperance  of  the  Christians  ?  Does 
the  greed  of  the  Alani  so  merit  condemnation  as  the  greed 
of  the  Christians?  If  the  Hun  or  the  Gepid  cheat,  what  is 
there  to  wonder  at,  since  he  does  not  know  that  cheating  is 
a  crime?  If  a  Frank  perjures  himself,  does  he  do  anything 
strange,  he  who  regards  perjury  as  a  way  of  speaking,  not 
as  a  crime  ?  ^ 

The  nation  of  the  Goths  is  perfidious  but  modest,  that  of 
the  Alani  immodest  but  less  perfidious;  the  Franks  are  liars 
but  hospitable,  the  Saxons  wild  with  cruelty,  but  to  be  ad- 
mired for  their  chastity.  All  these  nations,  in  short,  have 
their  especial  good  qualities  as  well  as  their  peculiar  vices.^ 

Salvian  sums  up  his  main  contention  as  follows : 

You,  Romans  and  Christians  and  Catholics,  are  defrauding 
your  brethren,  are  grinding  the  faces  of  the  poor,  are  fritter- 
ing away  your  lives  over  the  impure  and  heathenish  spectacles 
of  the  amphitheatre,  you  are  wallowing  in  licentiousness.  The 
barbarians,  meanwhile,  heathen  or  heretics  though  they  may 

1  iv,  14.    From  J.  H.  Robinson,  Readings  in  European  History,  vol. 
i,  pp.  28-30. 
2vii,  15. 


533]  OTHER  CHRISTIAN  WRITERS  127 

be,  and  however  fierce  towards  us,  are  just  and  fair  in  their 
dealings  with  one  another.  The  men  of  the  same  clan,  and 
following  the  same  king,  love  one  another  with  true  affection. 
The  impurities  of  the  theatre  are  unknown  among  them. 
Many  of  their  tribes  are  free  from  the  taint  of  drunkenness, 
and  among  all,  except  the  Alani  and  the  Huns,  chastity  is 
the  rule.^ 

Written  in  somewhat  similar  spirit  is  the  history  of  the 
persecution  of  the  Catholics  by  the  Arian  Vandal  kings, 
Genseric  and  Huniric  (427-484),  in  three  books  ^  by  an  ar- 
dent bishop,  Victor  Vitensis  or  Uticensis.  This  dreary 
chronicle  is  an  important  source  for  the  Germanic  settle- 
ments in  Africa  in  the  fifth  century,  not  because  of  special 
intrinsic  worth  but  because  of  the  scarcity  of  other  and  better 
sources.  According  to  its  author,  heresy,  not  German 
blood,  is  the  vice  and  crime  of  the  Vandal  kings. 

Victor,  Salvian,  Jerome  and  Orosius,  with  others  of  their 
class,"  found  the  qualities  of  Christian  piety  and  of  histori- 
cal or  descriptive  objectivity  rather  incompatible.  They 
are  most  disappointing  as  sources  relating  to  the  Germanic 
invasions.  Nor  do  the  numerous  lives  of  the  saints  of  the 
fifth  and  sixth  centuries  help  us  greatly,  for  they  consist 
chiefly  of  miracles  and  prodigies,  obscure  and  uncritical. 

1  From  T.  Hodgkin,  Italy  and  her  Invaders,  vol.  i,  p.  920. 

2  Historia  persecutionis  Vandalicae  or  Africanae  ecclesiae  sub  Geiser- 
ico  et  Hunirico  Vandalorum  regibus,  edited  by  C.  Halm  in  Monumenta 
Germaniae  historica,  Auctores  Antiquissitni,  vol.  iii  (Berlin,  1879)  and 
by  M.  Petschenig  in  Corpus  scriptorum  ecclesiast.,  vol.  vii  (Vienna, 
1881).  German  trans,  by  A.  Mally  (Vienna,  1884). 

8  Suggestions  are  occasionally  supplied  by  Vincent  of  Lerins,  the 
writer  on  theology;  by  Eucherius,  a  preacher  at  Lyons  from  434  to 
450;  by  Paulinus  (353-431),  bishop  of  Nola,  whose  works  are  now  well 
edited  by  W.  Hartel,  2  vols.  (Vienna,  1894)  ;  and  by  acts  of  church 
councils.  Then  too,  there  are  the  Christian  poets  and  panegyrists  men- 
tioned below. 


128  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [534 

Occasionally  such  a  biography  gives  a  little  glimpse  into  the 
life  of  the  time  or  some  detail  of  interest  to  the  historical 
student.  Such  are  the  life  of  Bishop  Epiphanius  of  Pavia, 
written  by  his  successor,  Ennodius/  about  the  year  504,  and 
the  better  known  life  of  Saint  Severinus,  who  labored  in 
Noricum  as  a  missionary  to  the  Germans  on  the  Danube 
and  died  in  482.  The  latter  was  prepared  in  511  by  a  cer- 
tain Eugippius,  who  had  been  with  the  saint  but  was  then 
an  abbot  near  Naples.^  A  few  extracts  from  the  biography 
of  Severinus  will  serve  to  illustrate  saints'  lives  at  their 
best  as  historical  sources :  ' 

On  the  death  of  the  Hunnish  king  Attila,  great  uneasiness  pre- 
vailed in  both  the  Pannonias  and  in  the  other  border  provinces. 
It  was  then  that  Severinus,  a  holy  servant  of  God,  came  from 
the  East  to  the  region  where  Upper  Noricum  and  the  two 
Pannonias  meet,  and  settled  in  a  little  town  called  Asturis.* 
Here  he  dwelt  in  accordance  with  the  gospel  and  apostolic  pre- 
cepts in  piety  and  in  purity  of  heart  and  fulfilled  his  sacred 
vows  by  good  works  in  knowledge  of  the  Catholic  Faith. 
Strengthened  by  these  works,  he  strove  zealously  for  the  palm 
of  the  heavenly  calling. 

^  Ennodius  (474-521)  also  wrote  a  panegyric  on  Theodoric  and  many 
letters.  The  best  edition  of  his  works  is  by  F.  Vogel  in  the  M onumenta 
German.  Hist.,  Auctores  Antiquissimi,  vol.  vii  (Berlin,  1885).  See  M. 
Fertig,  Magnus  Felix  Ennodius  und  seine  Zeit  (1855-1860);  and  M. 
Dumoulin,  "  Le  gouvernement  de  Theodoric  et  la  domination  des 
Ostrogoths  en  Italie  d'apres  les  oeuvres  d'Ennodius "  in  Revue  Jiistor- 
ique  (1901-2). 

2 The  best  editions  are  by  P.  Knoell  in  Corpus  Scriptorum  Ecclc- 
siasticorum  Latinorum,  vol.  ix  (Vienna,  1886)  ;  and  by  T.  Mommsen  in 
Scriptores  rer.  Germ,  in  usum  schol.  (Berlin,  1898).  There  is  a  German 
translation  by  K.   Rodenberg  in  the  Geschichtschrciber. 

3  See  also  the  admirable  Hfe  of  Saint  Martin  of  Tours  by  Sulpicius 
Severus. 

*  Probably  on  the  site  of  modern  Klosterneuburg,  near  Vienna. 


535]  OTHER  CHRISTIAN  WRITERS  129 

One  day  he  went  into  the  church  as  was  his  wont  and 
there  began  with  humiUty  to  predict  the  future  to  the  assem- 
bled priests,  clergy  and  people,  and  to  urge  them  to  prayers, 
fasts  and  works  of  mercy  in  view  of  an  impending  attack  of 
the  enemy.  But  their  minds  were  choked  and  defiled  by  lusts 
of  the  flesh,  and  they  judged  the  preacher's  prophecies  by  the 
measure  of  their  unbelief.  When  the  servant  of  God  returned 
to  his  host's,  who  was  a  dignitary  in  the  church,  he  foretold 
the  day  and  hour  of  the  approaching  destruction,  adding,  "  I 
am  about  to  leave  this  stiff-necked  city  which  will  soon  perish." 
He  thereupon  betook  himself  to  the  next  town,  which  is 
called  Comagenis.' 

Comagenis  was  strongly  guarded  by  its  barbarian  inhabi- 
tants who  had  become  allies  of  the  Romans,  and  permission 
to  enter  or  leave  was  not  readily  granted.  The  servant  of 
God,  however,  was  not  questioned  or  refused,  although  he 
was  absolutely  unknown  to  them.  He  hastened  to  the  church 
and  admonished  all  who  were  despairing  of  deliverance  to 
arm  themselves  with  fasts,  prayers,  and  good  works,  and  re- 
viewed instances  of  deliverance  in  earlier  times,  how  the  Lord 
had  protected  his  people  and,  contrary  to  expectation,  had 
miraculously  freed  them.  They  were  still  hesitating  to  put 
faith  in  one  who  promised  safety  to  all  in  the  presence  of 
gravest  danger,  when  an  old  man  arrived  who  had  recently 
sheltered  such  a  man  in  Asturis,  and  who,  upon  being  ques- 
tioned by  the  warders,  indicated  by  his  looks  and  words  the 
ruin  of  his  town,  stating  that  it  had  been  plundered  and 
totally  destroyed  by  barbarians  on  the  very  day  which  a 
certain  man  of  God  had  prophesied.  Hearing  this,  they  asked 
in  astonishment,  "  Thinkest  thou  that  it  is  the  same  man  who 
promises  us  in  our  doubt  the  help  of  God?"  As  soon  as  the 
old  man  perceived  the  servant  of  God  in  the  church,  he  threw 
himself  at  his  feet  and  gave  thanks  to  him  that  he  himself 
was  free  and  had  not  fallen  with  his  fellow  townsmen.  When 
the  citizens  heard  this  they  sought  pardon  for  their  unbelief 

1  Modern  Tulln.     It  lay  in  Noricum. 


130  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [536 

and  followed  up  the  admonition  of  the  man  of  God  with 
holy  works;  they  fasted  and  did  penance  for  their  past  sins 
three  entire  days  in  church  with  sighs  and  lamentations.  On 
the  evening  of  the  third  day  during  the  celebration  of  the 
Sacrifice,  the  barbarian  inhabitants  were  so  frightened  at 
a  sudden  earthquake  that  they  forced  the  Romans  to  open  the 
gates  quickly.  They  pressed  out  and  fled  hastily  in  all  di- 
rections for  they  thought  themselves  encompassed  and  hemmed 
in  by  their  hostile  neighbors;  and  being  filled  by  the  Lord 
with  fear  and  confused  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  they 
struck  each  other  with  their  swords.  Such  was  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  enemy,  and  the  people,  delivered  by  God's  help, 
learned  through  the  holy  man  to  contend  with  heavenly 
arms     .     .     .^ 

Severinus  went  from  one  town  to  another,  preaching  and 
encouraging  the  people  and  performing  many  miracles.  He 
built  a  cloister,  whither  came  "  numerous  youths  whom  he 
instructed  in  holy  duties,  accomplishing  more  by  example 
than  by  word,"  but  the  troubles  of  the  time  did  not  allow 
him  the  life  of  isolation  which  he  most  desired. 

The  Rugian  kingdom  was  tottering  when  Flaccitheus  suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne,  for  he  was  on  bad  terms  with  the  Goths 
in  Lower  Pannonia  and  their  great  numbers  terrified  him.  He 
constantly  sought  advice  in  his  necessity  of  Saint  Severinus  as 
of  a  divine  oracle.  On  one  occasion  when  he  was  hard  pressed, 
he  came  in  tears  to  Severinus  and  said  that  he  had  been  asked 
by  the  Gothic  princes  about  the  pass  into  Italy,  and  as  he  had 
declined  to  answer  he  would  doubtless  be  killed  by  them.  The 
man  of  God  thereupon  advised  him:  "It  is  meet  that  thou 
seekest  my  advice  about  eternal  life  because  the  one  Catholic 
faith  unites  us;  and  now,  because  thou  art  solicitous  for  thy 
earthly  welfare  and  asketh  me  about  the  life  which  is  com- 
mon to  us  all,  give  ear  to  my  instruction.     Fear  not  the  num- 


537]  OTHER  CHRISTIAN  WRITERS  131 

bers  or  enmity  of  the  Goths,  for  they  will  soon  depart  hence 
and  thou  shalt  rule  peacefully  and  with  good  fortune.  Forget 
not,  I  pray  thee,  what  I  have  admonished  thee.  Despise 
not  to  make  peace  with  the  least  and  rely  not  on  thine  own 
might.  Cursed  be  the  man,  saith  Scripture,  that  trusteth  in 
man  and  maketh  flesh  his  arm  and  whose  heart  departeth  from 
the  Lord.^  Wherefore,  seek  to  avoid  snares,  deceive  not,  and 
thou  shalt  die  a  peaceful  death  in  thine  own  camp     ...     * 

.  .  .  Some  barbarians  on  their  way  to  Italy  stopped  to 
see  him  and  entreat  his  blessing,  among  whom  was  Odovacar, 
later  king  of  Italy,  then  a  tall  youth  in  mean  clothes.  He  had 
to  bow  his  head  as  it  touched  the  low  ceiling  of  the  cell,  and 
the  man  of  God  knew  he  would  sometime  be  famous.  For 
when  he  had  given  him  his  blessing,  he  said :  "  Go  to  Italy, 
go,  thou  who  art  now  clad  in  poorest  skins,  shalt  then  give 
many  rich  gifts."  ^ 

King  Feletheus,  surnamed  Feva,  the  son  of  the  above- 
mentioned  Flaccitheus,  imitated  his  father's  zeal  and  at  the 
beginning  of  his  reign  sought  likewise  the  advice  of  the  holy 
man.  But  his  wild  and  evil  wife,  Giso  by  name,  was  always 
anxious  to  draw  him  from  the  wholesome  pursuits  of  peace. 
She  even  tried  with  other  abominable  crimes  to  rebaptize 
Catholic  Christians,  but  she  soon  left  off  because  her  hus- 
band, from  fear  of  holy  Severinus,  would  not  concur.  Never- 
theless, she  oppressed  Romans  with  a  heavy  hand  and  even 
commanded  that  some  should  be  brought  to  her  across  the 
Danube.  While  she  was  stopping  one  day  in  a  village  near 
Favianis,  she  caused  several  Romans  to  be  taken  across  the 
river  and  condemned  to  most  wretched  slavery.  The  man  of 
God  at  once  demanded  their  freedom,  but  she,  inflamed  by 
the  fire  of  womanly  wrath,  answered  spitefully,  "  Pray  for 
yourself,  servant  of  God,  immured  in  your  cell;  it  is  our 
business  to  treat  with  our  servants  as  we  will."  When  the 
man  of  God  heard  this,  he  said :  "  I  trust  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
that  she  will  be  compelled  to  realize  what  in  her  evil  desire 

*  Jeremias,  xvii,  5.  ^  Ch.  5.  »  Ch.  7. 


132  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [538 

she  hath  disdained."  And  there  speedily  followed  a  blow 
which  struck  her  haughty  spirit  to  the  ground     .     .     .     ^ 

While  the  most  distant  towns  of  Upper  Noricum  were 
still  standing,  although  no  fort  was  safe  from  barbarian  at- 
tacks, the  fame  of  Saint  Severinus  shone  so  brightly  that 
every  garrison  competed  with  every  other  for  his  protection, 
believing  that  in  his  presence  no  misfortune  could  befall. 
And  it  was  not  without  the  favor  of  divine  grace  that  every- 
one feared  his  admonitions  as  divine  utterances  and  followed 
his  example  with  good  works.     .     .     .     ^ 

So  long  as  Roman  rule  was  maintained,  soldiers  were  kept 
in  many  cities  at  public  expense  for  the  protection  of  the 
border  wall,  but  when  it  was  no  longer  used,  the  garrisons  dis- 
solved and  the  border  wall  fell.  The  Batavinian  guard  alone 
remained  intact.  Some  of  these  soldiers  were  sent  to  Italy 
to  obtain  the  last  pay  for  their  comrades,  but  they  were  at- 
tacked by  barbarians  on  the  way,  no  one  knows  where.  One 
day  Saint  Severinus  suddenly  shut  the  book  which  he  was 
reading  in  his  cell,  and  began  to  groan  and  weep,  and  bade 
his  companions  hurry  to  the  river,  which  they  would  find  at 
that  moment  red  with  human  blood.  And  as  a  matter  of 
fact  it  was  straightway  announced  to  him  that  the  corpses 
of  those  soldiers  had  been  washed  ashore  by  the  river 
current.^     .     .     . 

At  the  close  of  the  hard  strife  and  the  long  battle,  when 
Saint  Severinus,  enlightened  by  God,  perceived  that  he  was 
about  to  pass  out  of  this  world,  he  asked  the  often  mentioned 
Rugian  king,  Feva,  to  come  to  him  with  his  evil  wife,  Giso. 
He  charged  him  with  wholesome  words  that  in  dealing  with  his 
subjects  he  should  always  think  of  the  account  he  would  have 
to  render  the  Lord  of  the  condition  of  his  kingdom,  and 
he  boldly  added  other  admonitions.  Then  he  stretched  out 
his  hand,  and  pointing  to  the  king's  breast  asked  the  queen 
reproachfully :  "  Lovest  thou,  Giso,  this  soul  more  than  silver 
and  gold?"     When  she  said  she  preferred  her  husband  above 

iCh.  8.  2Ch.  II.  -       'Ch.  20. 


539]  OTHER  CHRISTIAN  WRITERS  133 

all  riches,  the  wise  man  of  God  continued :  "  Cease  then  to 
oppress  the  innocent  lest  their,  affliction  break  thy  rule;  for 
oftentimes  thou  makest  the  king's  mildness  of  no  avail."  But 
she  replied :  "  Why  receivest  thou  us  in  this  manner,  servant 
of  God?"  He  answered:  "I  beseech  ye,  I,  a  most  humble 
servant,  who  will  soon  appear  before  the  Lord,  that  ye  refrain 
from  evil  deeds  and  attend  to  works  of  piety.  Thus  far  hath 
your  kingdom  thrived  by  God's  grace;  henceforth  look  ye 
well  to  it."  When  the  king  and  his  consort  were  fittingly 
admonished  by  these  words,  they  took  their  departure  and 
went  thence. 

Thereafter  the  saint  ceased  not  to  speak  to  his  disciples  in 
all  kindliness  and  love  about  his  approaching  separation,  and 
what  they  were  to  do.  "  Know,  dear  Brothers,"  he  said,  "  as 
it  is  written  that  the  children  of  Israel  escaped  from  the 
land  of  Egypt,  so  is  it  also  determined  that  all  the  people  of 
this  land  shall  be  freed  from  the  wicked  rule  of  the  bar- 
barians. Then  shall  they  all  go  forth  with  their  possessions 
from  the  cities  and  proceed  into  the  Roman  province  and  no 
one  will  rob  them  of  anything.  But  heed  the  command  of 
the  holy  patriarch  Joseph,  with  whose  words,  I,  an  unworthy 
and  bad  servant,  beseech  you :  God  will  visit  you  and  you  will 
carry  my  bones  with  you  out  of  this  land.^  This  will  not  be 
of  use  to  me  but  to  you.  These  places,  now  still  inhabited, 
will  be  changed  into  such  a  waste  solitude  that  the  enemy  in 
quest  of  wealth  will  dig  up  the  graves  of  the  dead."  And  the 
present  condition  of  things  confirms  the  truth  of  his  pro- 
phecy. The  saintly  father,  with  pious  forethought,  ordered 
his  body  removed  so  that  when  the  time  of  the  general  migra- 
tion should  come,  the  community  of  Brothers  whom  he  had 
collected,  might  move  together  and  thus  continue  bound  to- 
gether in  unity  and  communion  of  spirit.^ 

1  Genesis,  1,  24.  2  Ch.  40. 


CHAPTER  XII  ' 

Sources  from  Theodosius  the  Great  to  Justinian 
(Continued)  :  Poets  and  Panegyrists 

Panegyrists  and  poets  should  be  treated  in  the  fifth  as 
in  every  other  century  merely  as  panegyrists  and  poets. 
Political  bias  is  as  destructive  of  historical  accuracy  as  reli- 
gious prejudice;  slavish  devotion  to  emperor,  commander, 
or  senate  is  little  different  in  essence  from  blind  devotion 
to  God  or  Church.  Poetry,  moreover,  if  really  poetry,  is 
apt  to  be  ideal  or  mystical  or  at  least  to  represent  events  as 
they  ought  to  be  rather  than  as  they  are.  Bad  poetry — 
and  much  of  the  poetry  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  was 
bad, — is  only  artificial,  and  the  bad  poet  discovers  that  form 
is  inexorable,  that  everything  must  be  subordinated  to  the 
needs  of  rhythm.  The  poet  should  be  put  with  the  furious 
friend  in  the  category  of  the  undesirable  members  of  the  so- 
ciety of  trustworthy  historians. 

It  happens,  however,  in  the  case  of  the  panegyrics  and  of 
the  poems  as  in  that  of  the  edifying  religious  tracts  that  an 
interesting  or  suggestive  statement  may  be  discovered  in  the 
midst  of  the  rhetoric  or  the  verse,  perhaps  an  important 
observation  on  the  conditions  of  the  time.  Several  ex- 
amples might  be  cited. 

Eumenius,  a  native  of  Autun  in  Gaul  who  flourished  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  third  century,  addressed  flattering 
speeches  to  Constantius  Chlorus,^  in  one  of  which  he  said : 

1  The   panegyrics   of    Eumenius   may   be    found    in    the   Panegyrici 
vcteres,    ed.    by   E.    Bahrens    (Leipzig,    1874),    together    with    several 
134  [540 


541  ]  POETS  AND  PANEGYRISTS  135 

We  have  seen  and  we  shall  still  see  in  the  streets  of  our  cities 
and  under  our  porches  long  files  of  captive  barbarians,  whom 
the  emperor's  orders  distribute  among  the  inhabitants  of  the 
province,  waiting  to  be  conducted  to  the  fields  which  lack 
laborers  and  which  they  must  cultivate.  Here  is  then  a 
Chamave  and  a  Prison  working  for  me;  the  old  pillager  is 
changed  to  a  worker  and  brings  his  crops  to  our  markets 
.  .  .  The  territories  of  Beauvais,  Troyes,  Langres,  which 
lacked  coloni,  today  prosper  by  the  labor  of  the  barbarian 
coloni. 

Themistius,  perhaps  the  most  important  of  the  group, 
a  Greek  rhetorician,  taught  at  Constantinople  in  the  second 
half  of  the  fourth  century  and  enjoyed  the  favor  of  several 
emperors.  Constantius  made  him  a  senator;  Julian  called 
him  the  foremost  philosopher  of  the  age;  Theodosius  selected 
him  as  tutor  for  Arcadius  and  in  384  nominated  him  to  a 
prefecture.  Thirty-four  of  his  speeches  ^  survive.  They 
are  partially  philosophical  but  mainly  eulogistic  of  the  em- 
perors he  served,  and  are  filled  with  political  and  historical 
allusions.  They  are  surprisingly  clear.  The  defects  of 
panegyrics  in  general  and  the  particular  merits  of  Themis- 
tius are  illustrated  in  the  following  extract  from  a  tribute 
paid  to  Theodosius  in  383 : 

It  was  considered  a  great  thing  when  Corbulo  induced  Tiri- 
dates,  king  of  Armenia,  to  submit  to  Nero,  but  the  knowledge 
of  the  vile  character  of  his  master  must  have  saddened  even 
that  success  to  Corbulo.  How  much  greater  the  happiness  of 
Saturninus  who  serves  such  a  master  as  Theodosius!  And 
the  Armenians  are  a  race  easily  lifted  up  with  pride  and  soon 

anonymous  panegyrics  which  came  from  Gaul.  Oratory  seems  to 
have  prospered  in  Gaul,  even  in  the  Rhenish  cities,  in  the  fourth  and 
early  fifth  centuries. 

1  Edited  by  L.  Dindorf  (Leipzig,  1832). 


136  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [542 

cast  down  again,  a  race  whose  very  liberty  differs  not  much 
from  slavery;  whereas  these  barbarians  with  whom  we  have 
to  deal  are  men  of  most  inflexible  souls,  men  to  whom  the 
thought  of  humbling  themselves  ever  so  little  is  far  more 
bitter  than  death.  Yet  this  is  the  nation  whose  chiefs  we  have 
seen  offering,  not  some  tattered  flag,  but  their  very  swords, 
their  victorious  swords,  as  a  tribute  to  the  emperor;  yea,  and 
humbling  themselves  before  him  and  clasping  his  knees  as 
Thetis  clasped  the  knees  of  The  Thunderer,  that  they  might 
hear  from  his  lips  the  word,  the  irrevocable  word  of  recon- 
ciliation and  peace. 

Now  that  name  Scythian  [Goth],  which  was  so  hateful  in 
our  ears,  how  pleasant,  how  friendly  it  sounds !  Now  the 
Goths  celebrate  together  with  us  the  festival  of  our  prince, 
which  is  in  truth  one  of  rejoicing  for  the  victories  gained 
over  themselves.  Do  you  complain  that  their  race  has  not 
been  exterminated  ?  I  will  not  ask,  "  Could  they  have  been 
exterminated?"  I  will  concede  that  they  might  have  been 
easily  destroyed  without  loss  to  ourselves  though  certainly  the 
history  of  the  Gothic  war  makes  that  concession  an  improb- 
able one.  Still,  I  say,  which  of  the  two  is  better,  that  Thrace 
should  be  filled  with  corpses  or  with  cultivators  of  the  fields ; 
that  we  should  walk  through  ghastly  desolation  or  through 
well-tilled  corn-lands?  that  we  should  count  up  the  dead  men 
lying  there  or  the  ploughers  ploughing?  Is  it  better  that  we 
should  bring  Phrygians  and  Bithynians  to  settle  in  the  waste 
lands,  or  that  we  should  dwell  there  in  peace  with  the  men 
whom  we  have  subdued?  Already  I  hear  from  those  who 
have  visited  those  parts  that  the  Goths  are  working  up  the 
iron  of  their  swords  and  breastplates  into  mattocks  and  prun- 
ing-hooks,  and,  bidding  a  long  good-bye  to  Mars,  are  paying 
all  their  devotions  to  Ceres  and  to  Bacchus. 

The  course  now  pursued  by  Theodosius  is  not  without  a 
precedent  in  the  history  of  the  republic.  Masinissa,  once 
the  ally  of  Carthage,  taken  prisoner  by  the  Romans  and  not 
put  to  death,  became  their  steadfast  friend  and  a  strong  de- 


543]  POETS  AND  PANEGYRISTS  137 

fence  against  the  enemies  who  afterwards  attacked  them. 
In  our  case  the  State,  which  Uke  some  mighty  merchantman 
strained  by  wind  and  wave,  was  leaking  at  every  seam,  is 
brought  into  dock  and  is  once  more  made  seaworthy.  The 
roads  are  again  open.  The  mountains  are  no  longer  terrible 
to  the  traveler.  The  plains  are  now  bringing  forth  their 
fruits.  No  longer  is  the  shore  of  the  Danube  a  stage  for  the 
bloody  dance  of  war,  but  seeds  are  being  hidden  in  it  and 
ploughs  do  furrow  it.  Villas  and  farm-buildings  are  again 
raising  their  heads.  A  delightful  atmosphere  of  rest  per- 
vades the  land ;  and  the  empire,  like  some  great  Hving  creature, 
feeling  no  more  the  laceration  of  its  wounded  members,  draws 
one  deep  breath  of  delight  for  ended  sorrow.^ 

Contemporaneous  with  Themistius  was  Libanius,^  who 
taught  at  Nicomedia  in  Bithynia,  at  Constantinople,  and 
finally  at  Antioch.  He  was  a  warm  admirer  of  Julian,  and, 
though  a  pagan,  numbered  among  his  pupils  such  men  as 
Basil  the  Great  and  John  Chrysostom.  He  left  sixty-seven 
speeches,  containing  many  references  to  the  events  of  his 
time,  fifty  declamations,  and  two  thousand  letters  '  addressed 
to  friends  and  pupils  which  give  us  interesting  glimpses  into 
the  life  of  a  scholar  in  the  eastern  provinces  during  the 
fourth  century. 

Symmachus,  consul  and  prefect  of  the  city  of  Rome  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  fourth  century,  was  an  earnest  champion 
of  the  pagan  religion  and  of  the  senate's  honor  and  integ- 
rity.    Of  his  writings  *  which  have  come  down  to  us  and 

1  Oration  16,  On  the  choice  of  Saturninus  for  the  constilship.  From 
T.  Hodgkin,  Italy  and  her  Invaders,  vol.  i,  pp.  318-320. 

2  See  G.  R.  Sievers,  Aus  detn  Leben  des  Libanius  (Hamburg,  1863) 
and  O.  Seeck,  Die  Briefe  des  Libanius  zeitlich  geordnet  (Leipzig,  1906). 

"  A  fourth  of  these  are  extant  only  in  Latin  translations,  and  some 
are  of  doubtful  authenticity. 

*  Edited  by  O.  Seeck  in  Monumenta  Germaniae  historica,  Auctores 
Antiquissinti,  vol.  vi  (Berlin,  1883). 


T38  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [544 

are  of  some  interest  for  our  purposes,  we  should  mention 
ten  books  of  letters,  three  panegyrics  on  Valentinian  I  and 
Gratian,  a  number  of  official  reports  to  the  emperor,  and 
fragments  of  six  senatorial  orations. 

The  chief  poets  of  the  time  ^  who  are  occasionally  help- 
ful are  Ausonius  "  (d.  390),  a  native  of  Bordeaux,  a  tutor 
of  Gratian  and  a  convert  to  Christianity,  who  wrote  ex- 
tremely artificial  verses;  Prudentius  ''  (/?.  cca.  390),  a  Span- 
ish lawyer  and  judge,  who  held  imperial  office  under  Theo- 
dosius  or  Honorius  and  wrote  poems  with  some  skill  and 
with  tremendous  Christian  fervor;  and  Claudian,*  a  pagan, 
who  came  to  Rome  from  Alexandria  in  395,  and  won  the 
favor  of  the  influential  Stilicho,  whose  praise  he  sang  in 
tiresomely  rhetorical  style  and  whom  he  does  not  seem  to 
have  survived.  Mr.  Hodgkin  °  has  freely  rendered  into 
English  some  of  Claudian's  fulsome  verses : 

"  Through  scenes  like  these,  in  winter's  thickest  snow 
Upon  his  dauntless  course,  pressed  Stilicho. 
No  genial  juice  to  Bacchus  there  is  born, 
And  Ceres  reaps  a  niggard  store  of  corn. 

1  See  T.  R.  Glover,  Life  and  Letters  in  the  Fourth  Century  (Cam- 
bridge, 1901). 

-  Poems  edited  by  C.  Schenkl  in  Monumenta  Germaniae  historica, 
Auctores  Antiquissimi,  vol.  v  (Berlin,  1883)  ;  by  R.  Peiper  (Leipzig, 
1886)  ;  and,  with  useful  notes  and  an  excellent  French  translation,  by 
H.  de  La  Ville  de  Mirmont  (Bordeaux,  1889).  See  C.  Jullian,  Ausone 
et  Bordeaux,  etude  sur  les  derniers  temps  de  la  Gaule  romaine  (Bor- 
deaux, 1893). 

3  Poems  edited  by  A.  Dressel  (Leipzig,  i860).  There  is  an  English 
translation  of  selections  by  F.  St.  J.  Thackeray  with  good  notes  (Lon- 
don, 1890)  and  also  by  E.  G.  Smith  (London,  1898).  See  P.  A.  J. 
Puech,  Prudence,  etude  sur  la  poesie  latine  chretienne  au  IV^  siecle 
(Paris,  1888). 

■•Edited  by  J.  Koch  (Leipzig,  1893).  See  T.  Hodgkin,  Claudianus 
the  Last  of  the  Roman  Poets  (Newcastle,  1875) ;  J.  H.  E.  Crees, 
Claudian  as  an  historical  authority  (Cambridge,  1908). 

'^  Italy  and  her  Invaders,  vol.  i,  pp.  715-6. 


545]  I'OETS  AND  PANEGYRISTS  139 

But  he, — his  armor  never  laid  aside — 

Tasted  the  hurried  meal,  well  satisfied; 

And,  still  encumbered  with  his  dripping  vest. 

Into  his  frozen  steed  the  rowel  pressed. 

On  no  soft  couch  his  wearied  members  lay, 

But  when  dark  night  cut  short  his  arduous  way 

He  sought  such  shelter  as  some  wild  beast's  cave, 

Or  mountain-shepherd's  hut  to  slumber  gave, 

The  shield  his  only  pillow.    Pale  with  fear  •  ' 

Surveyed  his  mighty  guest  the  mountaineer. 

And  the  rude  housewife  bade  her  squalid  race 

Gaze  on  the  unknown  stranger's  glorious  face. 

These  couches  hard  the  horrent  woods  below. 

Those  slumbers  under  canopies  of  snow. 

Those  wakeful  toils  of  his,  that  ceaseless  care 

Gave  to  the  world  this  respite,  did  prepare 

For  us  unhoped-for  rest.     From  dreadful  doom 

He,  in  those  Alpine  huts,  redeemed  thee,  Rome."  * 

Claudian  suggests  a  different  estimate  of  Stilicho's  character 
from  that  of  Orosius  or  even  that  of  Zosimus ;  and  although 
we  may  naturally  distrust  the  general  tenor  of  Claudian's 
plainly  partisan  praises,  we  cannot  justly  deny  the  truth  of 
many  of  his  incidental  statements.  In  fact,  we  must  dis- 
tinguish carefully  in  the  case  of  Claudian  as  in  that  of  all 
the  panegyrists  and  poets  between  what  is  reckless  generali- 
zation and  what  is  particular  historical  fact.  Thus  the 
above  verses,  while  they  indicate  that  Stilicho  fought  pub- 
lic enemies  somewhere  in  the  mountainous  regions  of  the 
Italian  frontier,  may  quite  possibly  convey  an  extravagant 
notion  of  Stilicho's  bravery,  perseverance  and  patriotism. 
For  historical  purposes,  incidental  remarks  and  allusions 
should  be  preferred  in  this  kind  of  source  to  general  theses 
or  interpretations  of  motives. 

Another   pagan   poet,    Rutilius    Namatianus,    wrote    an 
elegy  ^  in  several  books,  describing  his  return  from  Rome 

^  De  bello  Getico,  w.  348-362. 

^  De  reditu  or  Itinerariutn.    Edited  by  L.  Miiller  (Leipzig,  1870). 


I40  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [546 

to  Gaul  about  the  year  415,  of  which  the  first  book  (644 
lines)  and  a  fragment  of  the  second  are  extant.  The  poem 
pays  glorious  compliment  to  the  beauty,  the  grandeur,  the 
greatness  of  Rome  and  to  the  universality  and  eternity  of 
her  empire.  There  is  no  sigh  or  lament.  And  the  poem 
was  written  only  five  years  after  Alaric's  raid.  The  very 
silence  of  such  a  source  can  be  an  impressive  witness  to 
conditions  of  the  time. 

Synesius  ^  of  Cyrene  wrote  hymns  and  a  large  number 
of  amusing  and  instructive  letters.  He  was  born  about  378 
of  a  distinguished  family,  studied  at  Alexandria,  and  be- 
came bishop  of  Ptolemais  in  Cyrenaica  in  410.  He  wit- 
nessed the  Vandal  invasion  of  x\frica  and  died  about  430. 

The  warmest  admirer  of  literature  who  lived  in  the  west- 
ern provinces  in  the  fifth  century  was  probably  Sidonius 
Apollinaris  (430-cca.  489).  A  native  of  Lyons,  he  received 
a  good  education,  married  the  daughter  of  the  emperor 
Avitus,  was  made  a  senator,  prefect  of  the  city  and  finally 
bishop  of  Clermont  in  Auvergne.  He  left  to  posterity 
poems  and  a  great  number  of  letters  -  which  are  well 
written  and  give  us  quite  a  different  idea  about  Gaul  in  the 
fifth  century  from  that  of  Salvian,  his  pessimistic  contem- 
porary. Mr.  Hodgkin,  who  has  been  interested  also  in 
Sidonius  and  has  done  the  most  of  his  writings  into  English, 
says :  "  Sometimes  we  carry  back  into  the  fifth  century  the 
thick   darkness   which   hung   over   the    intellectual   life   of 

1  Partial  edition  by  J.  Flach  (Leipzig,  1875).  French  translation  by 
H.  Druon  (Paris,  1878).  See  W.  S.  Crawford,  Synesius  the  Hellene 
(London,  1901). 

2  Edited  by  B.  Krusch  (Berlin,  1887),  and  in  the  Teubner  texts  by 
P.  Mohr  (Leipzig,  1895).  A  French  translation,  F.  Didot  (Paris,  1888). 
See  three  articles  by  P.  Allard  in  the  Revue  des  questions  historiques : 
"La  jeunesse  de  Sidoine  Apollinaris"  (Jan.,  1908);  "  Sidoine  Apolli- 
naris sous  les  regnes  d' Avitus  et  de  Majorien"  (April,  1908);  and 
"Sidoine  Apollinaris,  prefet  de  Rome"  (Oct.,  1908). 


547]  POETS  AND  PANEGYRISTS  141 

Merovingian  France  or  Lombard  Italy.  In  both  these  esti- 
mates we  are  mistaken.  A  careful  perusal  of  the  three 
volumes  of  the  letters  and  poems  of  Sidonius  reveals  to 
us  that  in  Gaul,  at  any  rate,  the  air  still  teemed  with  in- 
tellectual life,  that  authors  were  still  writing,  amanuenses 
transcribing,  friends  complimenting  or  criticizing,  and 
all  the  cares  and  pleasures  of  literature  filling  the  minds 
of  large  classes  of  men  just  as  though  no  empires  were  sink- 
ing and  no  strange  nationalities  were  suddenly  rising  around 
them.  We  need  not  believe,  upon  the  authority  of  the 
highly-wrought  panegyrics  of  Sidonius,  that  he  had  a  score 
of  friends  all  more  eloquent  than  Cicero,  more  subtle  than 
Plato,  and  diviner  poets  than  Homer  or  Virgil;  but  the 
interesting  fact  for  us  is  that  such  forgotten  philosophers 
and  poets  did  exist  in  that  age,  and  that  their  works,  pro- 
duced in  lavish  abundance,  seem  to  have  had  no  lack  of 
eager  students."  ^  Sidonius  speaks  often  of  the  Germans 
but  he  treats  their  immigration  and  marauding  expeditions 
as  merely  episodical  or  as  an  excuse  for  trying  his  epistolary 
powers : 

Sidonius  wishes  health  to  his  friend  Syagrius. 

As  you  are  grandson  of  a  consul,  and  that  on  the  paternal 
side,  as  you  are  sprung  (which  is  more  to  our  present  pur- 
pose) from  a  poetic  stock,  descended  from  men  who  would 
have  earned  statues  by  their  poems  if  they  had  not  earned 
them  by  their  services  to  the  state,  all  which  is  shown  by  those 

1  Italy  and  her  Invaders,  vol.  ii,  p.  305.  In  the  pages  of  Sidonius, 
we  find  the  names  of  numerous  writers,  orators  and  poets,  e.  g.,  Con- 
scntius,  Lampridius,  Leo,  Petrus,  Sapaudus,  Secundinus,  Tonantius 
FerreoKis,  Thaumastus,  etc.  Another  interesting  source  similar  to 
Sidonius  is  Paulinus  of  Fella,  a  rich  Aquitanian,  who  wrote  of  his 
life  among  the  Visigoths :  edited  by  W.  Brandes  in  Corpus  script, 
eccl.  Lat.  (Vienna,  1888)  ;  see  J.  Rocafort,  Un  type  gallo-romain, 
Paulin  de  Pella,  sa  vie,  son  po^nte  (Paris,  1896),  and  C.  Caeymaex, 
"  Paulin  de  Pelle"  in  Le  tnusee  beige,  vol.  i  (1897).  For  Sulpicius 
Severns,  see  supra,  p.  120. 


142  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [548 

verses  of  your  ancestors  which  the  present  generation  studies 
with  unimpaired  interest, — as  these  are  your  antecedents,  I 
cannot  describe  my  astonishment  at  the  ease  with  which  you 
have  mastered  the  German  tongue.  I  remember  that  in  your 
boyhood  you  were  well  trained  in  liberal  studies,  and  I  am  in- 
formed that  you  often  declaimed  before  a  professional  orator 
with  force  and  eloquence.  But  since  this  is  the  case,  pray  tell 
me  whence  your  soul  has  suddenly  imbibed  the  oratory  of  an 
alien  race,  so  that  you  who  had  the  phraseology  of  Virgil 
flogged  into  you  at  school,  you  who  sweated  over  the  long 
and  stately  sentences  of  Cicero,  now  swoop  down  upon  us  like 
a  young  falcon  from  the  German  language  as  though  that 
were  your  old  eyrie. 

You  cannot  imagine  how  I  and  all  your  other  friends  laugh 
when  we  hear  that  even  the  barbarian  is  afraid  to  talk  his  own 
language  before  you  lest  he  should  make  a  slip  in  his  grammar. 
When  you  are  interpreting  their  letters,  the  old  men  of  Ger- 
many, bent  with  age,  stand  in  open-mouthed  wonder,  and  in 
their  transactions  with  one  another  they  voluntarily  choose 
you  for  arbitrator  and  judge.  A  new  Solon  when  you  have 
to  discuss  the  laws  of  the  Burgundians,  a  new  Amphion  when 
you  have  to  wake  music  from  their  three  stringed  lyre,. 
you  are  loved  and  courted,  you  please,  you  decree,  you  are 
obeyed.  And  though  the  barbarians  are  equally  stiff  and 
lumpish  in  body  and  mind,  yet  in  you  they  learn  and  love  the 
speech  of  their  fathers,  the  disposition  of  a  Roman. 

It  now  only  remains  for  you,  oh  most  brilliant  of  wits,  to 
bestow  any  spare  time  which  may  still  be  yours  on  reading 
[Latin],  and  so  to  retain  that  elegance  of  style  which  you 
now  possess.  Thus  while  you  preserve  your  Latin  that  we 
may  not  laugh  at  you,  you  will  practise  your  German  that  you 
may  be  able  to  laugh  at  us.     Farewell.^ 

Poets  and  panegyrists  flourished  even  in  Africa  during 

1  Epistle  V,  5.  T.  Hodgkin,  Italy  and  her  Invaders,  vol.  ii,  pp.  358- 
360. 


549]  POETS  AND  PANEGYRISTS  143 

the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries.  Their  very  existence  offers 
interesting  suggestions  as  to  conditions  among  the  Vandals. 
Their  writings  should  be  treated  as  a  healthful  antidote  to 
Victor's  gloomy  pictures,  his  review  of  religious  horrors 
and  his  diatribes  against  heresy.^  A  miscellaneous  collec- 
tion of  verse,  which  was  made  at  Carthage  about  the  year 
534,  has  come  down  to  us  filling  nearly  two  hundred  pages 
of  manuscript."  Creditable  poems  are  preserved  of  Flavins 
Felix;  of  Florentinus,  who  wrote  hexameters  in  praise  of 
king  Thrasamund  '  (496-523)  ;  and  of  Luxorius,  the  most 
prolific  of  them  all,  who  imitated  Martial  with  some  success. 

Corippus,  who  lived  in  Africa  about  the  middle  of  the 
sixth  century,  wrote  epic  poems  on  historical  subjects  with 
paneg}Tic  tendency,  of  which  the  Johannis  is  the  best.  It 
was  written  in  549  or  550  and  describes  in  eight  books  the 
campaign  against  the  Mauretanians  which  had  just  been 
brought  to  a  successful  close  by  John,  master  of  the  soldiery 
for  Africa.  It  is  useful  for  the  topography  and  history  of 
the  country,  and  though  extremely  dull  it  tells  the  story 
in  a  straightforward  way.  Corippus  also  wrote  a  poetical 
panegyric  in  four  books  on  Emperor  Justin  (565-578).* 

Fabius  Fulgentius  (cca.  480-550),  likewise  a  native  of 
Africa,  wrote  in  addition  to  many  religious  treatises  a  kind 
of  universal  history,'  the  fantastic  character  of  which  groups 

1  See  supra,  p.  127. 

^  Mainly  in  the  Codex  Salmasianus,  so-called  from  its  former  owner. 
Claude  de  Saumaise. 

8  Florentinus  observes  in  one  place :  "  Carthage  is  graced  with 
studies,  Carthage  is  adorned  with  teachers."  Cf.  Salvian's  tribute  to 
Carthage :  "  illic  artium  liberalium  scholae,  illic  philosophorum  offi- 
cinae,"  etc.  (vii,  16). 

*  The  works  of  Corippus  are  edited  by  M.  Petschenig  (Berlin,  1886). 
See  P.  Ewald,  "  Zu  Corippus  in  laudem  Justini "  in  Neues  Archiv  fiir 
a.  deutsch.  Geschichte,  vol.  vi  (1881). 

'  De  aetatibus  tnundi. 


144  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [550 

it  naturally  with  poetry.  It  appears  to  have  been  written 
in  twenty-three  books,  but  only  fourteen  have  come  down  to 
us :  the  first  nine  books  treat  of  Old  Testament  events,  the 
tenth  of  Alexander  the  Great,  the  eleventh  of  Rome  from 
its  foundation  to  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar,  the  twelfth  of 
the  Gospel  narrative,  the  thirteenth  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  and  the  fourteenth  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Ful- 
gentius  states  that  it  is  based  in  part  on  the  books  of  the 
poet  [ !]  Xenophon;  it  is  filled  with  mystical  moralizings; 
and  its  arrangement  is  absurd.  One  letter  of  the  alphabet 
in  succession  remains  unemployed  in  the  respective  books : 
in  book  one,  letter  A ;  in  book  two,  letter  B ;  etc.  The  style 
is  thoroughly  bombastic  and  the  subject  matter  unimportant. 
It  is  a  particularly  impressive  monument  to  literary  decay. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Sources  from  Theodosius  the  Great  to  Justinian 
(Continued)  :  The  Chroniclers 

The  chronicles  appear  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries 
as  practically  a  new  kind  of  source,  and  aid  us  in  patching 
together  the  disjointed  statements  of  Zosimus  and  the  other 
Greeks,  of  the  ecclesiastical  historians,  apologists  and  saint- 
biographers,  of  the  poets,  panegyrists  and  letter-writers. 
The  chronicles,  appearing  at  first  as  a  subsidiary  source,  in- 
crease in  importance  with  the  lapse  of  time  until  in  the 
middle  age  they  come  finally  to  dominate  the  presentation 
of  history. 

The  chronicles  of  the  fifth  century  grew  out  of  the  fasti 
and  annates  of  earlier  times.  It  had  anciently  been  a  cus- 
tom for  the  pontifex  maximus  to  preserve  a  list  of  court 
days  {dies  fasti)  on  which  the  praetor  could  hand  down  de- 
cisions. The  list  was  published  by  Gnaeus  Flavius  in  304 
B.  C.  These  fasti  gradually  expanded  into  systematic 
calendars,  of  which  several,  composed  after  the  reforms  of 
Julius  Caesar,  are  preserved,  at  least  in  part.^  Two  com- 
plete Roman  calendars  are  in  existence, — an  official  list 
written  by  a  certain  Furius  Dionysius  Philocalus  in  A.  D. 
354,  and  a  Christian  version  of  the  official  calendar,  pre- 
pared by  Polemius  Silvius  in  A.  D.  448. 

Supplementary  to  the  fasti  were  the  annales.  From 
ancient  times,  the  pontifex  maximus  was  accustomed  every 

^  Ovid's  Fasti  is  a  poetical  explanation  of  the  Roman  festivals  of 
the  first  six  months. 

551]  M5 


146  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [55^ 

year  to  record  at  the  top  of  a  white  tablet  (album),  which 
was  exhibited  in  an  open  place  at  his  house,  the  names  of 
the  consuls  and  magistrates,  and  then  below  to  add  a  few 
memorable  events.  Cicero  states  ^  that  the  annals  were  so 
kept  down  to  the  pontificate  of  Publius  Mucins  Scaevola 
(cca.  131  B.  C),  after  which  independent  compilations 
were  carried  on  by  various  unofficial  writers,  of  whom  he 
names  Cato,  Pictor  and  Piso.  Annals  had  also  been 
anciently  preserved  in  the  Greek  temples,  and  their  con- 
tinuations gradually  merged  with  the  Roman  annals  in  im- 
perial times.  Lists  of  consuls  were  kept  by  imperial  officers, 
mainly  at  Rome  and  Constantinople,  until  the  reign  of  Jus- 
tinian (541),  and  entries  were  supplied  from  time  to  time 
by  various  anonymous  persons. 

With  the  growth  of  Christianity,  annals  were  kept  more 
and  more  by  bishops  and  monks.  A  certain  Sextus  Julius 
Africanus,^  who  flourished  in  the  early  part  of  the  third 
century,  had  paved  the  way  in  his  "  Chronographies  "  by 
combining  pagan  and  Christian  chronology.  His  system 
rested  on  the  Jewish  idea  of  a  world-epoch  of  six  thousand 
years,  and  he  was  concerned  to  prove  that  the  Incarnation 
had  taken  place  in  the  year  5500,  after  which  there  would 
be  five  hundred  years  of  waiting  till  the  end  of  the  world 
and  the  beginning  of  the  millenium  or  world-Sabbath. 
Sextus  was  followed  by  Eusebius,  the  bishop  of  Caesarea 
and  biographer  of  Constantine,  who  prepared  a  chronicle 
in  Greek  ^  relating  the  origin  and  history  of  all  nations 
and  kingdoms  that  he  had  heard  of,  from  the  creation  down 

^  De  Oratore,  ii,  12. 

2  See  H.  Gelzer,  Sextus  Julius  Africanus  und  die  byzantinische 
Chronographie  (Leipzig,  1880). 

3  Eusebius  {cca.  264-340).  The  text  is  lost.  On  his  ecclesiastical 
history,  see  supra,  p.  118. 


553]  ^^^  CHRONICLERS  1 47 

to  A.  D.  325,  and  indicating  in  convenient  tables  of  ten- 
year  periods  the  names  of  sovereigns  and  the  principal 
events  from  Abraham  ^  to  Constantine.  Then  Jerome,^ 
the  versatile  scholar  and  pamphleteer,  edited  a  Latin  version 
of  Eusebius's  work  and  continued  it  to  the  year  379. 

These  annals  and  chronicles,  brief  and  insignificant  be- 
fore the  time  of  Theodosius  the  Great,  became  during  the 
next  century  slightly  larger  in  bulk  and  enormously  more 
important.  Writers  who  were  too  thoughtless  or  too  lazy 
to  prepare  histories  on  the  older  and  grander  scale,  could 
at  least  jot  down  the  dates  with  accompanying  notices  of 
such  highly  momentous  events  as  earthquakes,  and  pesti- 
lences, and  accessions  of  emperors,  and  dedications  of 
churches,  and  shipwrecks,  and  consecrations  of  bishops. 
And  our  lack  of  the  grander  histories  has  made  very  preci- 
ous the  few  jejune  entries  of  the  chroniclers. 

The  extant  annals '  of  the  centuries  following  Theo- 
dosius the  Great  present  many  difficult  problems  of  author- 
ship and  of  the  sources  on  which  they  are  based. 

Prosper  of  Aquitaine,*  a  theological  writer  who  flour- 
ished about  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  is  credited  with 
a  Chronicon  Consulare,^  which  extends  from  the  point  where 
Jerome  stops  to  the  year  455.  It  has  the  usual  short  notices 
of  Roman  emperors,  Roman  bishops  and  general  public  oc- 

1  Eusebius  held  that  all  Hebrew  events  before  Abraham  were  "  pre- 
historic," and  so  he  dated  events  by  the  years  of  Abraham,  whom  he 
places  in  2017  B.  C. 

2  Cca.  340-420.    See  supra,  pp.  121 -4. 

'  All  these  annals  have  now  been  brought  together  by  T.  Mommsen 
in  the  Monumenta  Germaniae  Historica,  Auctores  Antiquissimi,  vols, 
ix,  xi,  xiii. 

■•  See  L.  Valentin,  Saint  Prosper  ^Aquitaine  (Paris,  1900). 

'  Sometimes  called  Epitoma  chronicon  ab  a.  379-455- 


148  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [554 

currences,  but  dwells  more  particularly  on  the  troubles  of 
the  church,  especially  the  Pelagian  heresy.  It  is  arranged 
according  to  the  years  of  the  Roman  consuls.  Another 
chronicle,  a  Chronicon  Imperiale,  which  bases  its  computa- 
tions on  the  reigns  of  the  emperors  instead  of  on  the  consuls, 
comprehends  the  same  period  (379-455)  and  agrees  with 
the  former  in  its  general  information,  although  it  speaks 
curtly  of  the  Pelagian  heresy.  The  latter  chronicle  is  now 
generally  ascribed  to  a  certain  Prosper  Tiro,  who,  it  is 
imagined,  flourished  in  the  sixth  century.  A  third  con- 
tinuation of  Jerome's  annals,  which  is  particularly  useful 
for  the  history  of  Spain  to  the  year  468,  was  made  by 
Idatius,  a  bishop  in  that  country.  Still  another  continua- 
tor  of  Jerome  was  Count  Marcellinus,  an  Illyrian,  who  was 
chancellor  to  Justinian  and  died  probably  about  534.  Mar- 
cellinus gives  ^  some  interesting  notices  of  events  in  lUy- 
ricum,  and  for  the  reigns  of  Anastasius,  Justin  and  Jus- 
tinian, his  statements,  always  provokingly  brief,  have  a 
very  high  value. 

A  chronicle,  which  continues  Eutropius  from  354  and  is 
of  some  value  for  the  reigns  of  Leo  and  Zeno  and  the 
first  years  of  Anastasius,  is  preserved  in  a  Vienna  manu- 
script in  two  recensions.  The  prior  comes  down  to  493 
and  the  posterior  to  539,  but  both  are  mutilated,  the  prior 
having  lost  that  portion  relating  to  the  years  404-454.  The 
compilation  was  first  edited,  along  with  some  excerpts  from 
a  Saint  Gall  manuscript  {Excerpta  Sangallensia),  by  Johann 
Cuspinian  in  1553,  and  hence  was  long  called  the  Anonymus 
Cuspiniani.     It   passes   now   under  various   names,   Fasti 

1  The  chronicle  proper  covered  the  years  379-5i8,  but  apparently 
contemporary  writers,  whose  names  are  unknown,  continued  it  to  534 
and  to  S48,  respectively.  The  whole  work  is  entitled,  Chronicon  quod 
rerum  orientalium  historiam  Eusebii  et  Hieronymi  usque  ad  Justin- 
iani  tempera  prosequitur. 


555]  ^^^  CHRONICLERS  I49 

Vindohonenses,  Fasti  Ravennates,  Chronicon  Cuspiniani, 
Consularia  Ravennatia,  etc.^ 

Cassiodorus,  the  influential  minister  of  Theodoric,  pre- 
pared a  brief  chronicle  to  the  year  519,  which  has  some 
importance  for  the  history  of  the  Ostrogothic  kingdom. 

A  French  scholar,  Henry  Valois,  published  in  1636  two 
fragments,  which  have  since  passed  under  the  name  Anony- 
nius  Valesianus,  and  which  Mommsen  has  contended  be- 
long to  distinct  writings.  Anonymus  A  {Origo  Constan- 
tini  imperatoris)  antedates  the  fifth  century,  while  Anony- 
mus B  (Chronica  Theodericiana)  covers  the  period  474  to 
526  and  appears  to  have  been  written  shortly  after  the 
death  of  Theodoric.^  The  unknown  author  writes  from  an 
imperialistic  point  of  view,  speaks  most  loyally  of  Zeno,  and 
usually  describes  Theodoric  by  the  title  "  patrician."  The 
chronicle  is  very  useful  for  the  history  of  the  Ostrogothic 
kingdom  in  Italy,  although  it  is  written  in  a  style  border- 
ing on  illiteracy. 

Annals  from  464  to  543  are  preserved  in  a  Vatican  manu- 
script as  a  part  of  the  register  of  Victor  of  Aquitaine. 
They  usually  pass  under  the  name  Pose  hale  Campanttm. 

Victor  Tonnennensis,"  an  African  bishop  who  opposed 
Justinian  in  the  religious  controversy  of  the  time  *  and 
was  banished  first  to  the  Balearic  islands,  then  to  Egypt, 

1  Pallman  rather  arbitrarily  ascribed  this  work  to  Maximian,  arch- 
bishop of  Ravenna. 

2  Bethmann,  Pertz,  Waitz  and  Holder-Egger  ascribe  the  chronicle 
to  Maximian  of  Ravenna  (cca.  498-556),  but  Bury,  Mommsen  and 
Cipolla  are  skeptical.  The  best  criticism  of  the  work  is  by  C.  Cipolla, 
Ricerche  intorno  all'  Anonymus  Valesianus  2  in  Bullettino  dell'  Isti- 
tuto  storico  Italiano,  number  11  (Rome,  1892).  For  an  extract  from 
the  Valesian  Fragment,  see  infra,  p.  164,  note. 

^  Or  Tunnunensis. 

*  The  Three  Chapter  Controversy. 


150  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [556 

and  finally  to  Constantinople,  wrote  in  exile  a  chronicle 
from  the  creation  to  the  year  566.  The  part  from  444  is 
extant.  Victor  made  use  principally  of  western  sources 
for  the  statements  from  444  to  457  and  from  501  to  563, 
and  of  eastern  sources  for  the  others. 

A  bishop  of  Avenches  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, Marius  by  name,^  continued  Prosper  Tiro's  chronicle, 
with  extremely  brief  notices,  from  455  to  581. 

A  single  manuscript  of  another  continuation  of  Prosper 
from  455  to  641  was  discovered  by  Waitz  at  Copenhagen 
in  1836  and  edited  as  the  Continuatio  Havniensis  Prosperi. 
It  was  probably  compiled  in  Italy  in  the  seventh  century 
towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Heraclius.  The  extant 
manuscript  presents  three  parallel  versions,  an  Ordo  prior, 
an  Ordo  posterior,  and  marginal  notes  or  Ordinis  posterioris 
margo.  It  is  called  the  "Lombard  Chronicle"  by  Bethmann 
and  the  "  Chronicle  of  641  "  by  Holder-Egger. 

Striking  similarities  between  some  of  these  chronicles 
and  fragments  of  others  which  have  come  down  to  us,  have 
led  modern  scholars- to  assert  that  most  of  them  were  drawn 
from  a  common  source  which  is  now  lost.  According  to 
the  theory  of  Mommsen,  it  was  a  chronicle  based  on  the 
fasti  of  Constantinople,  first  published  in  387  and  after- 
wards brought  up  to  date  from  time  to  time  by  the  care  of 
booksellers.  In  the  sixth  century  after  the  overthrow  of 
the  Gothic  kingdom,  it  was  probably  re-edited  and  carried 
on  by  Maximian,  archbishop  of  Ravenna,  whose  chron- 
icle is  cited  by  the  later  annalist  Agnellus.  It  would  thus 
be  the  main  source  for  the  two  Prospers,  Count  Marcellinus. 
Marius  Aventicensis,  Cassiodorus,  and  for  the  later  chron- 
iclers, Isidore  of  Seville,  Paul  the  Deacon,  Theophanes, 
etc.     It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  this  work,  to 

^  Marius  Aventicensis. 


557]  ^^^  CHRONICLERS  I^I 

which  Mommsen  gave  the  name  Chronica  Italica,^  is  purely 
hypothetical. 

In  order  to  illustrate  the  brevity  and  vagueness  of 
this  kind  of  source,  we  have  chosen  the  year  476, 
which  was  marked  by  a  little  revolution  in  Italian  politics 
that  has  been  most  preposterously  exaggerated  into  the 
fall  of  the  western  empire — as  if  there  were  a  western 
■empire  to  fall  ^ — and  which,  judged  by  the  average  entries 
in  the  various  chronicles,  is  neither  more  nor  less  important 
than  any  other  year.  We  give  the  notice  from  each  of  the 
chronicles  which  have  been  mentioned  above: 

^  O.  Holder-Egger  edited  a  theoretical  reconstruction  of  the  work  in 
Neues  Archiv  der  Gesellschaft  fur  dltere  deutschen  Geschichte,  vol. 
h  PP-  347-368  (1876),  under  the  title  Annates  Ravennatenses  379-572. 
G.  Waitz  had  previously  used  this  title,  but  Mommsen  preferred  the 
title  Chronica  Italica  on  the  ground  that  it  had  been  beg^n  before 
Ravenna  became  an  important  imperial  city. 

2  It  is,  of  course,  as  preposterous  to  maintain  the  existence  of  two 
Roman  empires  because  the  sources  speak  of  an  eastern  and  of  a  west- 
ern empire,  as  to*  reason  from  our  usual  expressions  about  Western 
Europe  and  Eastern  Europe  that  there  are  two  Europes.  It  had 
long  been  customary  for  two,  three  or  even  four  emperors  to  exercise 
common  control  over  the  state,  though  with  separate  capitals;  and  the 
laws  of  the  empire  were  issued  in  the  name  and  with  the  consent  of 
all  the  emperors  who  happened  to  be  reigning.  A  single  emperor 
might  exercise  particular  administrative  power  over  a  definite  portion 
of  the  empire,  subject  to  special  agreement  with  his  colleague  or  col- 
leagues. But  the  commonwealth  (respublica)  and  the  imperial  power 
(imperium)  were  each  indivisible  and  one.  Professor  J.  H.  Robinson 
in  an  address  on  "  The  Fall  of  Rome "  ( Boston,  1907,  printed  pri- 
vately) has  pointed  this  out  clearly  in  correcting  some  current  popular 
misapprehensions  in  regard  to  the  process  of  dissolution  of  the  Roman 
«mpire. 


152  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [558 

PROSPER  OF  AQUITAINE 

[closes  in  455.] 

PROSPER  TIRO 

[closes  in  455.] 

IDATIUS 

[closes  in  468.] 

COUNT  MARCELLINUS: 

Consulship  of  Basiliscus  and  Armatus.  The  tyrant  Basiliscus 
had  his  son  Marcus  named  Caesar,  and,  being  puffed  up  with 
pride,  attempted  to  support  the  Nestorian  heresy  against  the 
Catholic  faith,  but  his  fall  followed.  For  Zeno,  being  restored 
to  imperial  power,  banished  Basiliscus  with  his  son  and  wife 
Zenonida  to  a  little  town  called  Leminis  in  the  province  of 
Cappadocia.  Rumor  says  he  was  killed.  Odovacar,  king  of 
the  Goths,  occupied  Rome.  Odovacar  slew  Orestes  on  the 
spot.  Odovacar  condemned  Augustulus,  the  son  of  Orestes, 
to  banishment  to  the  Lucullan  villa  in  Campania.  The  im- 
perial power  of  the  Roman  people  in  the  west,  which  Octavian 
Augustus,  the  first  of  the  Augusti,  commenced  to  exercise  in 
the  709th  year  of  the  city,  perished  with  this  Augustulus  in  the 
522nd  year  of  the  empire,  and  thenceforth  Gothic  kings  held 
Rome. 

ANONYMUS  CUSPINIANI,   PRIOR  RECENSION: 

Second  consulship  of  Basiliscus  and  first  of  Armatus.  In  this 
consulship  Odovacar  was  raised  king  on  August  23rd.  This 
year  the  patrician  Orestes  was  killed  at  Piacenza,  August  28th. 
This  year  his  brother  Paul  was  killed  in  the  pines  near  Ra- 
venna, September  fourth. 

ANONYMUS   CUSPINIANI,  POSTERIOR  RECENSION  : 

[no  entry.] 

CASSIODORUS : 

Second  consulship  of  Basiliscus  and  first  of  Armatus.     During 

this  consulship  Orestes  and  his  brother  Paul  were  killed  by 


559]  ^^^  CHRONICLERS  1 53 

Odovacar,  who  assumed  the  title  of  king  but  did  not  use  the 
purple  or  royal  insignia. 

ANONYMUS  VALESIANUS: 

While  Zeno  Augustus  was  reigning  at  Constantinople,  Pa- 
trician Nepos,  coming  suddenly  to  Portus,  deprived  Glycerins 
of  imperial  power.  Glycerins  was  made  a  bishop  and  Nepos 
emperor  at  Rome.  Nepos  came  presently  to  Ravenna,  but, 
fearing  Patrician  Orestes  who  was  following  him  with  an 
army,  took  ship  and  fled  to  Salona.  There  he  remained  five 
years  and  was  assassinated  by  his  own  followers. 

Soon  after  his  departure  Augustulus  was  made  emperor  and 
reigned  ten  years  [ !].  Augustulus,  who  before  his  reign  had 
been  called  Romulus  by  his  parents,  was  made  emperor  by  his 
father,  Patrician  Orestes.  Odovacar,  however,  with  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Scyri,  coming  suddenly  on  Patrician  Orestes,  killed 
him  at  Piacenza,  and  afterwards  his  brother  Paul  in  the  pine 
woods  outside  Classis  [the  port  of  Ravenna].  He  took  Ra- 
venna, moreover,  and  deposed  Augustulus,  but  had  com- 
passion on  his  youth  and  beauty,  and  spared  his  life  besides 
paying  him  a  sum  of  six  thousand  solidi.  He  sent  him  into 
Campania,  where  he  lived  undisturbed  with  his  relatives.  His 
father,  Orestes,  was  a  Pannonian,  who  had  attached  himself 
to  Attila  when  the  latter  came  into  Italy  and  had  been  made 
his  secretary,  whence  he  had  been  advanced  until  he  had 
reached  the  dignity  of  patrician. 

PASCHALE  CAMPANUM  : 

Basiliscus  Augustus  for  second  time  and  Armatus,  consuls. 
Odovacar  is  elevated  August  twenty-third. 

VICTOR   TONNENNENSIS  : 

[no  entry  under  476,  but  the  following  under  473:] 
Leo  for  the  sixth  time  and  Probinus,  consuls.  .  .  .  During 
this  consulship,  Olybrius  comes  to  Rome  and  takes  the  im- 
perial power  from  Anthemius  who  has  been  reigning  through 
the  influence  of  the  faction  of  Patrician  Ricimir.  The  former 
being  recognized,  Anthemius  flees  and  is  killed.     And  after 


154  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [560 

several  days,  Herculanus,  son  of  Orestes,  usurps  the  imperial 
power  and  is  killed  with  his  father,  and  Nepos  takes  his  king- 
dom [!]. 

MARIUS  AVENTICENSIS  : 

Basiliscus  and  Armatus,  consuls.  Odovacar  was  raised  to  the 
kingship. 

CONTINUATIO   HAVNIENSIS   PRGSPERI,,  ORDO   PRIOR: 

Basilius  and  Armatus,  consuls.  In  Italy,  the  EruH,  who  were 
subject  to  Roman  law,  created  a  king,  Odovacar  by  name, 
August  twenty-third,  a  worthy  man  in  age  and  wisdom  and 
versed  in  military  affairs.  He  fell  upon  Patrician  Orestes 
who  was  stopping  at  Piacenza  and  defeated  him,  and  killed 
his  brother,  Paul  by  name,  near  Ravenna.  The  ills  of  the 
commonwealth  increase  from  all  sides ;  pressed  by  the  peoples 
everywhere,  it  loses  provinces  and  dominion. 

CONTINUATIO   HAVNIENSIS   PROSPERI,   ORDO   POSTERIOR: 

Basiliscus  for  the  second  time  and  Armatus,  consuls.  Odo- 
vacar was  elevated  king  by  his  army,  August  twenty-third.  Pa- 
trician Orestes  was  killed  at  Piacenza  and  his  brother  Paul 
at  Ravenna, 

CONTINUATIO   HAVNIENSIS  PROSPERI,   MARGINAL  NOTE: 

Amid  the  ills  and  unexpected  shipwreck  of  the  commonwealth, 
while  the  Romans  were  wasting  their  strength  within,  foreign 
tribes  which  had  submitted  to  the  Roman  law  with  feigned 
friendship,  rose  against  the  state.  Thus  the  Heruli,  who  dwelt 
in  Italy,  created  a  king,  Odovacar  by  name,  an  able  man  in 
skill  and  knowledge  and  versed  in  military  affairs.  He  fell 
upon  Patrician  Orestes,  who  was  stopping  with  his  army  at 
Piacenza,  and  overthrew  him.  The  latter's  brother,  Paul  by 
name,  who  lived  at  Ravenna,  was  surprised  by  Odovacar's 
army  and  perished  in  the  pines,  August  thirty-first.     .     .     . 


CHAPTER  XIV  ' 

Other  Sources  from  Theodosius  the  Great  to 
Justinian   (Continued) 

Three  writers  of  the  sixth  century  deserve  special  men- 
tion: Cassiodorus,  the  prime  minister  of  Theodoric;  Jor- 
danes,  the  Gothic  historian  of  his  own  people;  and  Pro- 
copius,  who  served  in  the  wars  of  Justinian. 

Cassiodorus  ^  was  the  son  of  an  official  of  Odovacar  who 
subsequently  embraced  the  cause  of  Theodoric.  He  was 
born  about  480.  performed  various  public  services,  becom- 
ing master  of  the  offices  sometime  before  526,  and  died 
about  570.  Among  his  voluminous  writings  were  the 
chronicle  already  noted,  theological  works,  text-books  on 
the  liberal  arts,  twelve  books  of  official  letters,  and  a 
history  of  the  Goths. 

The  letters  (Vqriae),  which  were  published  about  537, 
constitute  a  very  valuable  mine  for  the  history  of  the  Ostro- 
gothic  kingdom.-  The  first  five  books  contain  letters 
written  by  Cassiodorus  as  quaestor  or  as  master  of  the 
offices  in  the  name  of  King  Theodoric;  the  sixth  and 
seventh,  the  formulas  of  appointment  to  various  dignities; 
the  eighth  and  ninth,  letters  written  in  the  name  of  Atha- 

1  Magnus  Aurelius  Cassiodorus  Senator.  He  was  not  commonly 
called  Cassiodorus  until  in  the  eighth  century,  by  Paul  the  Deacon, 
Historia  Langobardorum,  i,  25. 

-  The  best  edition  is  by  T.  Mommsen  in  Monumenta  Germaniae 
historica,  Auctores  Antiquissimi,  vol.  xii  (Berlin,  1894).  See  T.  Hodg- 
kin,  The  Letters  of  Cassiodorus,  being  a  condensed  Translation  of  the 
Variae   (London,  1886). 

561]  iS.-i 


\ 


156  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [562 

laric;  the  tenth  in  the  names  of  Amalasuentha,  Theodohad 
and  his  wife,  and  Witigis.  The  eleventh  and  twelfth  are 
composed  entirely  of  letters  written  by  Cassiodorus  in  his 
own  name  as  pretorian  prefect.  The  Variae  "  are  State 
papers  put  into  the  hands  of  an  improvisatore  to  throw  into 
form,  and  composed  with  his  luxuriant  verbiage,  and  also 
with  his  coarse  taste.  The  shortest  instructions  begin  with 
an  aphorism  or  an  epigram.  If  they  are  more  important 
or  lengthy,  they  sparkle  and  flash  with  conceits  or  anti- 
theses, and  every  scrap  of  learning,  every  bit  of  science  or 
natural  history,  every  far-fetched  coincidence  which  may 
start  up  in  the  writer's  memory,  however  remote  in  its  bear- 
ing on  the  subject,  is  dragged  in  to  exalt  or  illustrate  it, 
though  the  subject  itself  may  be  of  the  plainest  and  most 
matter-of-fact  kind.  You  read  through  a  number  of  ela- 
borate sentences,  often  tumid  and  pompous,  sometimes  feli- 
citous and  pointed,  but  all  of  the  most  general  and  abstract 
sort;  and  nestling  in  the  thick  of  them,  towards  the  end  of 
the  letter  or  paper,  you  come  upon  the  order,  or  instruction, 
or  notification,  for  which  the  letter  or  paper  is  written, 
almost  smothered  and  lost  in  the  abundance  of  ornament 
round  it."  ' 

Cassiodorus  was  a  Roman  citizen  politically  dependent 
on  Theodoric,  and  it  was  therefore  natural  that  he  should 
seek  by  every  means  to  exalt  the  Gothic  chieftain's  rule 
and  to  ensure  the  firm  loyalty  of  all  Roman  citizens  in 
Italy.  That  purpose  is  evident  in  the  letters  from  start  to 
finish.  It  was  doubtless  also  the  controlling  motive  in  the 
preparation  of  a  work  in  twelve  books  on  the  history  of  the 

^  Dean  Church  in  The  Church  Quarterly  Review  (July,  1880).  Con- 
temporary with  the  Variae  of  Cassiodorus  were  the  important  and  in- 
teresting letters  of  Bishop  Ennodius  (473-521)  of  Pavia,  edited  by  F. 
Vogel  in  the  Monumenta  Gernianiae  historica,  Auctores  Antiqttissimi^ 
vol.  vii  (Berlin,  1885). 


563]  OTHER  SOURCES  TO  JUSTINIAN  i^y 

Goths,  which  is  preserved  to  us  only  through  a  hasty  epi- 
tome by  an  illiterate  monkj*]  tiT^O^Jj  izS 

We  should  like  to  think  that  Cassiodorus,  being  in  a 
position  of  great  influence  and  with  every  possible  oppor- 
tunity to  know  the  barbarians,  had  composed  his  Gothic 
history  in  a  strictly  scientific  spirit,  that  he  had  mastered 
the  tribal  traditions  and  legends,  that  he  had  diligently 
investigated  every  Germanic  source,  that  he  had  presented 
the  facts  calmly  and  with  critical  insight.  But  all  we  know 
about  the  work  tends  to  prove  the  opposite.  A  laudator)^ 
letter  in  the  Variae,  purporting  to  have  been  written  by 
king  Athalaric,  affirmed  that 

he  carried  his  researches  up  to  the  very  cradle  of  the  race, 
gathering  from  the  stores  of  his  learning  what  the  Goths  had 
forgotten.  He  drew  forth  the  Gothic  kings  from  the  dim  lurk- 
ing place  of  ages,  restoring  to  the  Amal  line  the  splendor  that 
truly  belonged  to  it,  and  clearly  proving  that  for  seventeen 
generations  our  ancestors  had  been  kings.  Thus  did  he  assign 
a  Roman  origin  to  Gothic  history,  weaving  as  it  were  into  one 
chaplet  the  flowers  which  he  had  culled  from  the  pages  of 
widely-scattered  authors.^ 

Cassiodorus  seems  to  have  done  more  than  a  scientific  his- 
torian could  do,  for  he  remembered  what  had  been  for- 
gotten, and  constructed  for  the  reigning  family  a  fine  genea- 
logy of  seventeen  kings,  and,  if  we  may  presume  to  inter- 
pret the  "  Roman  origin  "  of  Gothic  history,  discovered  the 
ancestors  of  the  Goths  in  company  with  the  ancestors  of 
Romulus   and   Remus   in  the  great  city  of   Troy!       The  / 
Gothic  history  of  Cassiodorus  was  apparently  a  panegyric,    , 
and  its  author  was  rewarded  with  the  title  of  pretorian    } 
prefect. 

The  illiterate  monk  who  epitomized  this  lost  work  of 

1  Variae,  ix,  25. 


158  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [564 

Cassiodorus  and  added  statements  of  his  own  was  Jordanes/ 
a  native  of  Lower  Moesia.  He  lived  in  the  reign  of  Jus- 
tinian, and  his  grandfather  had  been  the  secretary  of 
Candac,  a  chieftain  of  Scyri,  Sadagarii  and  Alani,  who  had 
adopted  the  Gothic  name.  Jordanes  himself  was  the  secre- 
tary of  Candac's  nephew  until  he  entered  the  church.  The 
passages  in  which  he  speaks  of  his  family  -  lead  us  to  think 
that  he  was  a  Goth. 

It  may  seem  fortunate  on  first  thought  that  we  have  a 
history  written  by  a  Goth.  All  the  sources  we  have  thus 
far  examined  have  been  the  work  of  Roman  citizens.  But 
second  thought  will  show  that  Jordanes  was  rather  a 
Roman  than  a  barbarian.  His  family  was  separated  from 
the  Goths.  His  grandfather  was  secretary  of  an  Alan  king 
in  close  alliance  with  the  emperor.  He  himself  was  a 
Catholic  while  his  people  were  Arians.  He  became  a  monk 
within  the  empire.  His  education  and  language  were  Latin, 
not  Gothic.  His  patriotism  was  Roman,  not  German.  He 
believed  Rome  would  remain  mistress  of  the  tribes.  He 
spoke  of  the  emperors  only  with  respect  and  pronounced 
himself  a  loyal  subject  of  Justinian.'' 

Jordanes  states  in  his  preface  that  his  chief  source  was 
Cassiodorus : 

You  have  persuaded  me  to  condense  in  my  own  words  in  this 
single  slight  book  the  twelve  books  of  Senator  [i.  e.,  Cassio- 
dorus] on  the  origin  and  deeds  of  the  Getae  from  earliest  times 
down  to  the  present  through  succession  of  kings  and  genera- 
tions.    .     .     .     The  task  has  been  too  heavy  for  me  because 

1  Spelled  lornandes  by  Grimm  and  Gibbon,  and  lordanis  by  Waitz 
and  Wattenbach.  The  spelling  Jordanes,  used  by  Muratori  and  Momm- 
sen,  is  now  preferred.  The  oldest  manuscripts  have  Jordanes  and 
Jordanis,  never  Jornandes. 

2  50,  Co.  '  These  facts  are  gathered  from  chapters  25,  50,  60. 


565]  OTHER  SOURCES  TO  JUSTINIAN  159 

the  use  of  these  books  has  not  been  granted  me  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  I  might  follow  them  closely,  but,  that  I  may  not  speak 
falsely,  I  have  recently  reread  these  books,  thanks  to  the  cus- 
todian, during  three  days.  Although  I  do  not  reproduce  the 
words  literally,  I  believe,  however,  that  I  have  preserved  in  their 
integrity  the  thoughts  and  deeds.  I  have  joined  thereto  details 
from  certain  Greek  and  Latin  histories,  adding  myself  the 
beginning,  the  end  and  considerable  in  the  body  of  the 
work.     .     .     .* 

The  statement  of  our  illiterate  monk  that  he  had  used  this 
principal  source  three  days  may  signify  either  that  he  had 
superhuman  energy  in  reading,  reflecting  and  composing, 
or  that  he  was  a  modest  liar.  Several  other  statements  of 
Jordanes  would  incline  us  to  accept  the  latter  estimate. 

Among  the  "  certain  Greek  and  Latin  histories  "  men- 
tioned throughout  the  work  as  additional  sources  are  the 
writings  of  Tacitus  and  Dio  Cassius  on  the  ancient  Germans. 
Ptolemy  on  the  island  of  Scanzia,  and,  in  general,  Trogus 
Pompeius,  Orosius,  Priscus  and  Ablavius."  Jordanes  alleges 
that  the  Goths  had  ancient  traditions  and  poetry,  but 
whether  he  knew  them  himself  or  used  them  he  does  not 
say.  Perhaps  the  lost  Ablavius  was  sole  authority  for  their 
existence.  We  know  that  Jordanes  used  Roman  sources; 
we  do  not  know  whether  he  used  German  sources. 

The  Gothic  history  by  this  alleged  Goth  is  divided  into 
sixty  short  sections.*    The  first  thirteen,  treating  of  the  early 

1  Dedicatory  preface  to  a  certain  Castalius. 

^Jordanes  mentions  (c.  15)  a  Roman  history  by  Symmachus,  which 
has  not  come  down  to  us. 

'  De  rebus  Geticis,  or  Historia  de  Gothorum  or  Getarum  origine  et 
rebus  gestis  or  De  origine  actibusque  Getarum.  The  best  editions  are 
by  T.  Mommsen  in  Monumenta  Germaniae  historica,  Auctores  Anti- 
quissimi,  vol.  v  (Berlin,  1882),  and  by  A.  Holder  (Freiburg  i.  B.,  1882). 
There  is  an  English  translation  by  C.  C.  Mierow   (Princeton,  1908)  ; 


l6o  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [566 

wanderings  of  the  Goths,  are  thoroughly  unreHable  and  are 
generally  rejected.  The  reconstruction  of  an  ancient  history 
for  that  people  by  mistakenly  identifying  them  with  the  Getae 
and  with  the  Scythians  might  have  some  justification  in  the 
former  case  in  the  confusion  resulting  from  the  resemblance 
of  names,  and  in  the  latter  case  in  the  geographical  compre- 
hensiveness of  the  term  Scythia  as  applied  by  earlier  writers 
to  all  the  northern  and  eastern  peoples  before  they  ap- 
peared in  large  numbers  within  the  empire,  but  it  is  none 
the  less  fanciful  and  without  fact.  The  fourteenth  section 
of  the  history  distinguishes  Ostrogoths   from   Visigoths.^ 

a  German  translation  by  W.  Martens  in  the  Geschichtschreiber  der 
deutschen  Vorseit  (Leipzig,  1884)  ;  and  a  French  translation  by  A. 
Savagner,  2nd  ed.  (Paris,  1883).  To  Jordanes  is  ascribed  a  very  brief 
abridgment  of  universal  history  derived  mainly  from  Florus :  De 
sumnia  temporum  vel  origine  actxbusque  gentis  Romanorum,  or  De 
regnorum  et  temporum  successione,  or  Liber  de  origine  mundi  et 
actibus  Romanorum  cetarumque  gentium,  or  De  gestis  Romanorum. 
Edited  by  T.  Mommsen  in  Monumenta,  ibid. 

1  It  is  impossible  to  say  definitely  when  or  how  the  Goths  were 
divided  into  two  distinct  groups,  the  East  and  the  West  Goths.  The 
life  of  Claudius  in  the  Augustan  Histories,  which  was  written  early 
in  the  fourth  century,  mentions  (ch.  6)  "  Austrogothi,"  and  near  the 
close  of  the  same  century  the  poet  Claudian  (contra  Eutr opium,  ii, 
153)  speaks  of  "  Ostrogothis."  The  Visigothic  name  first  appears 
considerably  later.  In  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  Sidonius 
Apollinaris  speaks  of  "  Vesi "  in  two  places  ( Panegyric  to  Avitus,  an. 
456;  Panegyric  to  Majorian,  an.  458).  The  Variae  of  Cassiodorus  make 
frequent  mention  of  the  Visigoths  but  do  not  use  the  term  Ostrogoth. 
According  to  Jordanes,  the  word  Ostrogoth  came  from  a  certain  King 
Ostrogotha,  who  was  a  contemporary  of  Emperor  Philip  (224-229). 
It  has  been  suggested  that  at  first  {cca.  300-400)  the  distinction  was 
between  Ostrogoths  and  Goths,  and  that  the  name  Visigoth  was  a 
later  appellation.  Hodgkin,  after  confessing  serious  difficulties,  ac- 
cepts as  probable  the  identification  of  the  Greuthungi  and  Thervingi, 
distinctions  made  by  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  with  the  Ostrogoths  and 
Visigoths  respectively,  but  Bury  rejects  that  view  emphatically.  Cf. 
Hodgkin,  Italy  and  her  Invaders,  vol.  i,  pp.  100-102,  note;  Bury's  edi- 
tion of  Gibbon,  Appendix  16,  vol.  i,  p.  459. 


567]  OTHER  SOURCES  TO  JUSTINIAN  161 

The  fifteenth  gives  an  account  of  Emperor  Maximin,  who 
may  have  been  of  Gothic  origin,  and  the  sixteenth  opens 
with  the  reign  of  Philip.  From  this  point  onwards,  the 
narrative  runs  side  by  side  with  the  authentic  history  of 
the  empire. 

Jordanes  is  explicit  on  the  devotion  of  his  people  to  the 
commonwealth : 

.  .  .  After  the  death  of  Athanaric,  his  whole  army  re- 
mained in  the  service  of  emperor  Theodosius,  submitting  to  the 
Roman  rule  and  making  of  the  soldiery  but  one  body,  as  it 
were;  and  these  reviving  the  thousands  of  foederati  whom 
emperor  Constantine  had  formerly  had,  were  themselves  called 
foederati.  The  emperor,  perceiving  their  fidelity  and  friend- 
ship towards  himself,  led  more  than  twenty  thousand  of  them 
against  the  tyrant  Eugenius,  who  had  siezed  Gaul  after  the 
murder  of  Gratian.  He  conquered  this  usurper  and  obtained 
his  revenge.^ 

His  account  of  Alaric  is  far  less  detailed  than  that  of 
Zosimus,  and  probably  conveys  a  less  truthful  impression : 

After  Theodosius,  that  friend  of  peace  and  of  the  Gothic 
nation,  had  quitted  this  life,  and  when  his  sons,  living  in 
luxury,  began  to  annihilate  both  parts  of  the  commonwealth 
and  to  filch  from  their  foederati,  the  Goths,  their  accustomed 
gifts,  the  Goths  soon  conceived  an  increasing  contempt  for 
those  princes ;  and  fearing  lest  their  own  valor  should  be  re- 
laxed by  a  long  peace,  they  ordained  over  themselves  a  king, 
named  Alaric,  who  in  point  of  nobility  was  second  only  to  the 
Amals,  his  marvelous  origin  being  derived  from  the  family 
of  the  Balthes,  who  for  their  bravery  had  formerly  received 
that  name,  meaning  brave.  Presently  then,  the  aforesaid 
Alaric,  being  made  king  and  entering  into  deliberation  with 
his  people,  persuaded  them  to  seek  a  kingdom  for  themselves 
by  their  own  labors  rather  than  to  serve  others  in  idleness,  and, 

1  Ch.  28. 


l62  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [568 

having  gathered  an  army  together,  he  crossed  the  Pannonias 
and  Sirmium  during  the  consulship  of  StiHcho  and  AureHan, 
and  entered  Italy.     .     .     .^ 

The  narrative  of  Alaric's  campaigns  and  of  the  subsequent 
movements  of  the  Visigoths  in  Italy  is  chaotic;  in  points  it 
flatly  contradicts  Zosimus  and  Orosius  and  in  others  it  is 
itself  most  confusing.^  It  is  prima  facie  evidence  in  sup- 
port of  the  author's  contention  that  he  had  studied  his  chief 
source  but  three  days. 

Greater  reliance  is  placed  on  the  statements  concerning 
the  Gothic  settlements  in  Gaul,  the  invasions  of  the  Huns 
and  the  defeat  of  Attila  in  the  battle  of  the  Catalaunian 
Plains,  commonly  called  the  battle  of  Chalons,  not  because 
Jordanes  suddenly  becomes  inherently  more  trustworthy  but 
because  there  is  no  longer  a  Zosimus  or  even  an  Orosius  to 
contradict  him.  Jordanes  is  the  great  and  practically  the 
only  source  relating  to  the  battle  of  Chalons !  ^ 

Jordanes  traces  the  history  of  the  Visigoths  in  sections 
forty-three  to  forty-seven  from  the  battle  of  Chalons  (451) 
to  the  accession  of  Alaric  II  in  485.  Then  he  takes  up 
the  story  of  the  Ostrogoths  from  their  conquest  by  the 
Huns  through  their  various  settlements  in  the  empire  until 
the  occupation  of  Italy  by  Theodoric  (sections  48-57). 
The  last  three  sections  deal  with  the  reign  of  Theodoric, 
the  Goths  in  Spain  and  the  conquest  of  Justinian.  The 
narrative  becomes  more  meager  but  doubtless  more  reliable 

1  Ch.  29. 

-  Yet  Jordanes  is  the  sole  authority  for  that  oft-repeated  tale  of  the 
strange  burial  of  Alaric. 

•^  Chs.  37-41.  Jordanes  says  it  was  "  a  battle  obstinate,  furious,  hor- 
rible, such  as  was  never  seen  in  memory  of  man....;  a  little  stream 
flowing  through  the  middle  of  the  plain  was  so  swollen  by  the  blood 
shed  that  it  became  a  roaring  torrent." 


569]  OTHER  SOURCES  TO  JUSTINIAN  163 

as  it  becomes  more  contemporary.  Its  imperial  bias,  how- 
ever, does  not  prevent  a  plain,  straightforward  account  of 
the  relations  between  Theodoric  and  the  Roman  empire, 
perhaps  as  illuminating  as  any  that  we  have: 

Emperor  Zeno,  well  satisfied  to  learn  that  Theodoric  was  es- 
tablished king  of  his  nation,  sent  him  an  invitation  to  visit 
Constantinople  and  received  him  with  suitable  honor,  rank- 
ing him  among  the  noble  courtiers.  Afterwards,  in  order  to 
bestow  on  him  a  greater  honor,  he  adopted  him  as  a  son  in 
arms,  and  accorded  him  a  triumph  in  the  capital.  Theodoric 
was  made  consul,  which  is  conceded  to  be  the  greatest  honor 
in  the  world.  Nay  more ;  Zeno  had  an  equestrian  statue 
erected  opposite  the  imperial  palace  in  his  honor. 

Meanwhile  Theodoric,  allied  to  the  empire  of  Zeno,  hearing 
that  his  nation,  abiding  as  we  have  said  in  Illyricum,  was  not 
too  well  supplied  with  the  necessities  of  life  while  he  was  en- 
joying all  the  good  things  of  the  capital,  and  choosing  rather, 
after  the  usage  of  his  people,  to  seek  food  by  labor  than  to 
enjoy  in  idleness  the  favors  of  the  Roman  realm  while  his 
people  were  living  in  poverty,  made  up  his  mind  and  spoke 
thus  to  the  prince :  "  Though  nothing  is  wanting  to  me  for 
my  service  to  your  empire,  nevertheless,  if  your  Piety  think 
fit,  I  pray  you  to  hear  freely  the  desire  of  my  heart."  Then, 
as  was  wont,  leave  was  granted  him  to  speak  without  re- 
serve. "  Why,"  he  asked,  "  is  the  western  country,  which  has 
long  been  governed  under  the  sceptre  of  your  predecessors, 
and  that  city,  the  head  and  sovereign  of  the  world,  now  shaken 
by  the  usurped  authority  of  a  king  of  the  Turcilingi  and 
Rugians?  Send  me  thither,  if  it  please  you,  with  my  people, 
that  you  may  be  relieved  from  the  expense  which  we  cause 
you  here,  and  that  there,  if  by  the  Lord's  help  I  conquer,  the 
fame  of  your  Piety  may  spread  its  rays.  For  it  is  fitting  thut 
I,  your  son  and  servant,  if  victorious,  should  hold  that  king- 
dom as  your  gift ;  but  it  is  not  fitting  that  he  [Odovacar] ,  whom 
you  do  not  recognize,  should  press  his  tyrannical  yoke  upon 


l64  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [570 

your  senate,  and  that  a  part  of  the  commonwealth  should  lan- 
guish in  bondage.  In  brief,  if  I  conquer,  I  shall  possess  those 
lands  through  your  gift  and  by  your  generosity:  if  I  am  con- 
quered your  Piety  will  lose  nothing,  but  rather,  as  before 
said,  will  save  the  heavy  charges  which  we  now  entail."  On 
hearing  this  speech,  the  emperor,  though  sorry  to  part  with 
Theodoric,  yet  not  wishing  to  sadden  him  by  a  refusal,  granted 
what  he  desired;  and  after  overwhelming  him  with  rich  pres- 
ents, dismissed  him,  commending  to  his  protection  the  Senate 
and  the  People  of  Rome. 

[Theodoric  then  led  his  people  into  Italy  and  besieged  Odo- 
vacar  for  three  years  in  Ravenna.]  All  Italy  proclaimed  Theo- 
doric its  sovereign  and  thus  the  commonwealth  obeyed  his 
nod  .  .  .  Odovacar,  perceiving  no  means  of  escape,  sent 
an  embassy  to  ask  pardon.  Theodoric  at  first  granted  his  re- 
quest but  later  took  his  life.  It  was  finally,  as  we  have  said, 
in  the  third  year  after  his  entrance  into  Italy  that  Theodoric, 
by  advice  of  Emperor  Zeno,  laid  aside  the  costume  of  his  na- 
tion and  assumed  the  mantle,  the  insignia  of  royalty,  as  king 
thenceforth  of  Goths  and  Romans.^ 

Theodoric  sent  an  embassy  to  Clovis,  king  of  the  Franks,  to 
ask   for  the  hand  of  his  daughter  Audefleda.       Clovis  was 

1  Cf.  the  statements  in  the  Valesian  Fragment :  "  Zeno  rewarded 
Theodoric  with  favors,  making  him  patrician  and  consul,  giving  him 
many  gifts  and  even  sending  him  to  Italy.  Theodoric  stipulated  that 
if  he  should  conquer  Odovacar,  he  should  rule  in  his  stead  as  a  reward 
for  his  labors  until  the  emperor  should  arrive 

"  Odovacar  fled  to  Ravenna,  whither  Patrician  Theodoric  followed 
him  as  far  as  the  Pine-woods  and  besieged  Odovacar  three  years  in 
Ravenna,  until  wheat  brought  six  solidi  a  measure.  Theodoric  sent 
Faustus,  the  president  of  the  senate,  on  an  embassy  to  Emperor  Zeno 
in  the  hope  of  obtaining  the  purple. ..  .but  as  the  news  of  that  em- 
peror's death  and  of  the  succession  of  Anastasius  arrived  before  the 
embassy  returned,  the  Goths  confirmed  Theodoric  as  their  king  with- 
out waiting  for  an  order  from  the  new  emperor 

"  Later,  he  made  an  agreement  with  Anastasius  through  the  media- 
tion of  Festus,  for  a  formal  assumption  of  control,  and  the  emperor 
returned  all  the  ornaments  of  the  palace  which  Odovacar  had  sent  to 
Constantinople."     (Chapters  49,  53,  57,  64.) 


571]  OTHER  SOURCES  TO  JUSTINIAN  165 

pleased  to  further  the  suit,  for  he  thought  that  such  an  alliance 
would  unite  his  sons  .  .  .  with  the  Goths.  The  two  peoples, 
nevertheless,  continued  their  mutual  hostility  on  account  of 
the  lands  in  Gaul,  although,  so  long  as  Theodoric  lived,  the 
Goths  never  yielded  to  the  Franks  .  .  .  Theodoric  gave  his 
two  daughters  in  marriage  to  neighboring  kings,  one  to  Alaric 
[II],  king  of  the  Visigoths,  the  other  to  Sigismund,  king  of 
the  Burgundians  ....  Upon  learning  that  Eutharic,  a  des- 
cendant of  the  Amals,  a  young  man  distinguished  for  his  wis- 
dom and  valor  as  well  as  for  his  strength,  was  living  in  Spain, 
he  summoned  him  to  Italy  and  married  him  to  his  own  daugh- 
ter, Amalasuentha.  And  in  order  to  extend  the  influence  of 
his  family  as  far  as  possible,  he  sent  as  wife  to  Trasemund, 
king  of  the  Vandals,  his  sister,  Amalafreda,  the  mother  of 
Theodahad,  who  succeeded  to  the  kingship.  To  Hermenfred, 
king  of  the  Thuringians,  moreover,  he  gave  his  niece,  Amala- 
berga.     .     .     . 

[Theodoric,  by  means  of  his  counts,  reduced  Sirmium,  and 
defeated  the  Franks  in  Gaul.]  The  latter  left  more  than  thirty 
thousand  on  the  battlefield.  After  the  death  of  his  son-in-law, 
Alaric  [II],  he  appointed  Thiodis,  his  armor-bearer,  regent 
for  his  grandson  Amalaric  in  the  Spanish  kingdom.  Amalaric 
fell  into  the  snares  of  the  Franks  while  still  a  youth,  and  lost 
his  crown  and  his  life.  Then  the  regent  Thiodis  usurped  the 
throne,  delivered  Spain  from  the  base  pretensions  of  the 
Franks,  and  ruled  the  Visigoths  until  his  death.  Thiodigis- 
glossa  succeeded  him  in  power,  but  was  assassinated  before  he 
had  really  exercised  his  authority.  He  was  followed  by  Hac- 
tenusagil,  who  holds  the  kingdom  to  the  present  day.  Athana- 
gilda  has  rebelled  against  him  and  is  even  now  provoking  the 
forces  of  the  Roman  empire ;  Patrician  Liberius  is  on  the 
way  with  an  army  to  oppose  him. 

Throughout  the  life-time  of  Theodoric,  there  was  not  a 
single  tribe  in  the  west  which  did  not  serve  him  either  as 
friend  or  as  subject. 

When,  in  his  old  age,  he  felt  that  his  end  was  nigh,  he  con- 


1 66  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [572 

vened  the  Gothic  counts  and  leaders,  and  designated  Athalaric 
as  his  successor,  a  child  of  barely  ten  years,  the  son  of  his 
recently  widowed  daughter,  Amalasuentha.  He  urged  them 
as  his  last  wishes  to  respect  their  king,  to  love  the  Roman 
senate  and  people,  and  to  live  always  under  the  protection 
and  favor  of  the  eastern  prince,  as  next  after  God.  And  to 
his  injunctions  they  were  faithful  so  long  as  king  Athalaric 
lived,  about  eight  years.  During  that  time,  however,  the 
Franks,  who  scorned  the  child,  seized  what  his  father  and 
grandfather  had  taken  in  Gaul.  Athalaric  continued  to  hold 
the  other  states  in  peace,  and  entrusted  the  protection  of  his 
youth  and  of  his  mother's  widowhood  to  the  eastern  prince. 
But  in  a  short  time  the  ill-fated  boy  was  carried  ofiF  by  an 
untimely  death  and  departed  from  earthly  affairs. 

Amalasuentha,  not  wishing  to  expose  herself  to  the  scorn 
of  the  Goths  on  account  of  the  weakness  of  her  sex,  sum- 
moned to  the  throne  a  cousin,  Theodahad,  her  next  of  kin,  who 
had  been  living  in  private  life  in  Tuscany.  Theodahad  for- 
got the  ties  of  blood  and  exiled  Amalasuentha  from  the  palace 
at  Ravenna  to  an  island  in  Lake  Bolsena.  There  she  lived  a 
brief  time  stricken  with  sorrow,  and  was  at  length  strangled 
in  the  bath  by  his  hirelings. 

Justinian,  the  emperor  in  the  east,  was  stirred  by  the  news 
of  this  infamous  crime  as  by  a  personal  affront.  His  faith- 
ful patrician,  Belisarius,  had  just  triumphed  over  the  Vandals 
in  Africa,  and  without  loss  of  time  and  while  his  arms  were 
still  wet  with  Vandal  blood,  he  directed  this  general  to  lead 
an  expedition  against  the  Goths. 

[Belisarius  first  occupied  Sicily  and  then  southern  Italy. 
One  of  the  Gothic  leaders  deserted  to  him]  and  testified  his 
desire  to  serve  the  princes  of  the  Roman  empire.  The  Gothic 
army,  suspecting  Theodahad  of  complicity  in  this  treason,  clam- 
ored for  his  deposition  and  the  elevation  of  Witigis,  his  armor- 
bearer.  This  was  done  immediately,  and  Witigis,  being  pro- 
claimed in  the  barbarian  camps,  occupied  Rome  and  caused 
Theodahad  to  be  put  to  death     .     .     . 


573]  OTHER  SOURCES  TO  JUSTINIAN  167 

The  Roman  army,  which  had  meanwhile  crossed  the  strait, 
now  marched  through  Campania,  took  Naples,  and  entered 
Rome  a  few  days  after  the  departure  of  King  Witigis,  who 
went  to  Ravenna  and  married  Mathasuenta,  a  daughter  of 
Amalasuentha  and  grand-daughter  of  King  Theodoric.  The 
Roman  army  occupied  all  the  strongholds  of  Tuscany  while 
the  marriage  festivities  were  in  progress.  When  Witigis 
learned  what  had  happened,  he  sent  an  armed  force  to  take 
Perugia,  but  Roman  troops  raised  the  siege  and  destroyed  the 
besiegers.  Whereupon,  Witigis,  like  a  roaring  lion,  collected 
the  whole  Gothic  army,  quitted  Ravenna,  and  began  a  long 
siege  of  Rome.  His  boldness,  however,  was  of  no  avail,  for 
at  the  end  of  fourteen  months  he  abandoned  the  siege  and 
moved  against  Rimini.  There  likewise  he  failed,  and,  be 
ing  put  to  flight,  retreated  to  Ravenna.  Immediately  sur- 
rounded in  this  city,  he  voluntarily  surrendered  himself  to- 
gether with  his  wife  Mathasuenta  and  the  royal  treasury.       

Thus  in  the  year  1300  from  the  founding  of  the  city, 
through  the  efforts  of  the  faithful  consul  Belisarius,  Emperor 
Justinian,  who  had  then  long  been  reigning,  conquered  a 
famous  kingdom  and  a  warlike  nation.  The  prince  honored 
Witigis  with  the  title  patrician  and  took  him  to  Constantinople. 
There  Witigis  died  after  a  sojourn  of  two  years,  during  which 
he  lived  in  high  favor  with  the  emperor.  Justinian  caused 
Mathasuenta,  the  widow  of  the  Gothic  king,  to  marry  his 
brother.  Patrician  Germanus.  A  posthumous  son  was  born 
after  the  death  of  Germanus.  In  his  person  the  mingled  blood 
of  the  Anicii  and  of  the  Amals  gives  us  the  hope  of  seeing 
preserved,  by  God's  grace,  the  virtues  of  both  families. 

Thus  we  have  recited  the  origin  of  the  Getae  and  the  nobility 
of  the  Amals  and  the  exploits  of  brave  men.  This  glorious 
race  has  yielded  to  a  prince  far  more  glorious,  and  to  a  most 
valiant  general,  whose  fame  will  not  be  dimmed  in  any  coming 
century  or  generation.  That  is  why  Emperor  Justinian,  vic- 
torious and  triumphant,  and  Consul  Belisarius  are  each  sur- 
named  Vandalicus,  Africanus,  and  Geticus. 


l68  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [574 

That  is  practically  all  of  the  Gothic  history  of  Jordanes 
which  can  be  called  contemporary.  On  the  reign  of  Theo- 
doric  it  presents  fewer  facts  than  the  Valesian  fragment. 
On  the  social  relations  of  the  two  peoples — Roman  and 
Gothic — it  has  hardly  a  suggestion,  and  is  therefore,  in  that 
respect,  greatly  inferior  to  the  Letters  of  Cassiodorus.  The 
few  statements  about  the  Gothic  kingdom  immediately  fol- 
lowing the  death  of  Theodoric  are  the  most  authentic  and 
the  most  valuable.  The  expedition  of  Belisarius  against 
the  Goths  is  much  better  detailed  by  Procopius,  who  was 
not  a  monk  but  a  soldier. 

Procopius,  a  native  of  Caesarea,  was  born  about  490  and 
probably  belonged  to  the  official  aristocracy.  He  was  in 
any  event  a  warm  admirer  of  Justinian's  celebrated  general, 
Belisarius,  whom  he  accompanied  in  an  official  capacity  on 
the  campaigns  against  the  Persians,  the  Vandals,  and  the 
\  Ostrogoths.  He  served  thus  in  the  East  from  527  to  531, 
in  Africa  from  533  to  536,  and  then  three  years  in  Italy. 
This  experience  gave  him  an  acquaintance  with  military 
affairs  such  as  no  writer  had  had  since  Ammianus  Marcel- 
linus  and  likewise  an  excellent  opportunity  to  study  the 
peoples  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  Procopius,  more- 
over, had  little  in  common  with  the  illiterate  Jordanes,  for 
he  was  an  educated  man,  well  versed  in  ancient  literature 
and  able  to  write  Greek  in  a  style  tolerably  comparable 
with  that  of  the  masters. 

The  important  work  of  Procopius  for  our  purposes  is  the 
History  of  his  Own  Time  ^  in  eight  books,  published  be- 

1  There  is  a  complete  edition  by  G.  Dindorf  (Bonn,  1833)  with  a 
faulty  Latin  translation.  The  best  edition  on  the  Gothic  war  is  now 
that  of  D.  Comparetti  in  Le  fonti  per  la  storia  d' Italia  (Rome,  1895 
et  seq.),  with  an  Italian  translation.  There  is  a  German  translation 
of  the  Gothic  War  by  D.   Coste  in  the  Geschichtschreiber   (Leipzig, 

188s). 
Other  works  are  attributed  to  Procopius :  a  panegyric  on  Emperor 


575]  OTHER  SOURCES  TO  JUSTINIAN  i6g 

tween  550  and  560.  The  first  two  books  treat  of  the  wars 
with  the  Persians,  the  third  and  fourth  of  the  campaigns 
in  Africa  (395-545),  the  fifth,  sixth  and  seventh  of  the 
Gothic  War  (487-553),  while  the  eighth  book  presents  a 
brief  summary  of  general  events  to  the  year  554. 

Our  pleasure  at  finding  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury a  writer  who  writes  well  and  who  seems  capable  of 
rising  above  the  political  and  religious  passions  of  the  time 
after  a  whole  century  and  a  half  of  dreary  chronicle  and 
vulgar  bombast,  must  not  blind  our  eyes  to  several  serious 
drawbacks  in  the  histories  of  Procopius.  In  the  first  place, 
he  is  careless  and  uncritical  in  the  use  of  sources,  and  has 
been  convicted  of  numerous  errors.  He  contradicts  too 
many  other  authorities  to  guarantee  his  trustworthiness  for 
the  history  of  events  previous  to  his  own  time.^  In  the 
second  place,  he  has  a  strong  imperial  bias:  he  is  the  de- 
voted friend  of  Justinian  and  Belisarius;  he  is  captivated 
by  the  civilizing  and  cultural  mission  of  the  Roman  empire 
to  the  barbarian  world :  he  defends  valiantly  the  imperial 
laws  and  customs  and  distrusts  innovation;  and  his  class 
sympathies  are  with  the  aristocracy  of  wealth.  And 
finally,  his  very  literary  virtues  at  times  become  vices,  on 
account  of  his  servile  imitation  of  Herodotus  and  Thucy- 

Anastasius ;  an  account  of  the  buildings  restored  under  Justinian's 
auspices ;  and  notably  a  "  Secret  History "  which  seems  to  have  been 
an  anonymous  political  pamphlet  and  is  often  called  the  ninth  book  of 
the  History  of  his  Own  Time.  The  Secret  History  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Bonn  edition. 

The  history  of  Procopius  was  continued  by  Agathias,  whose  work 
covering  in  five  books  the  years  552-558  is  especially  useful  for  Italian 
affairs ;  and  in  turn  by  Menander  from  558  to  582.  The  history  of 
Agathias  and  the  extant  fragments  of  the  work  of  Menander  are  in 
the  Bonn  edition. 

1  The  charming  story  of  Emperor  Honorius  and  his  pet  hen,  Roma^ 
is  only  an  unreliable  anecdote;  Procopius  is  the  sole  authority. 


I70  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [576 

dides.  As  Bury  says,  when  we  find  incidents  at  the  siege  of 
Amida  reproduced  from  the  siege  of  Plataea,  we  have  rea- 
son to  doubt  whether  Procopius  confined  himself  to  adapt- 
ing merely  the  words  of  his  models. 

A  few  extracts  taken  at  random  may  serve  to  illustrate 
at  once  some  merits  and  some  defects  of  Procopius/  The 
first  is  his  account  of  how  Orestes,  the  barbarian  who  was 
"  boss "  in  Italy  during  the  reign  of  his  son,  Romulus 
Augustulus,  was  overthrown  in  476  by  another  barbarian 
"  boss,"  the  Rugian,  Odovacar,  who  in  turn  was  later  to 
succumb  to  the  Ostrogoths  under  Theodoric;  and  it  should 
be  remembered  that  Procopius  wrote  this  seventy  years  after 
the  events  had  happened : 

While  Zeno  was  reigning  at  Byzantium,  the  power  in  the  west 
was  held  by  the  Augustus  whom  the  Romans  nicknamed 
Augustulus  because  he  succeeded  to  the  empire  in  early  youth ; 
his  father,  Orestes,  a  very  prudent  man,  was  regent.  Some 
time  previously  the  Romans  had  received  as  allies  the  Skyri 
and  Alani  and  other  Gothic  [German]  tribes,  after  the  de- 
feats they  had  suffered  from  Alaric  and  Attila,  of  whom  I 
have  written  in  former  books.  The  fame  of  the  Roman  sol- 
diers decreased  in  proportion  as  that  of  the  barbarians  in- 
creased, and  under  the  specious  name  of  "  alliance  "  they  fell 
under  the  tyrannical  sway  of  the  intruders.  The  impudence 
of  the  latter  grew  to  such  an  extent  that  after  many  conces- 
sions had  willingly  been  made  to  their  needs,  they  at  length 
wanted  to  divide  the  entire  arable  land  of  Italy  among  them- 
selves. Of  this  they  demanded  a  third  part  from  Orestes,  and 
when  he  refused  them  they  straightway  slew  him.  Among 
the  barbarians  was  a  certain  imperial  guardsman,  Odovacar 
by  name,  who  then  promised  them  the  fulfilment  of  their  de- 
sires if  they  would  appoint  him  to  the  command.     After  he 

1  The  translations  follow  closely  those  of  Hodgkin  (in  Italy  and 
her  Invaders),  who  has  preserved  much  of  the  charm  of  the  author's 
style  with  sm&ll  sacrifice  of  literal  meaning. 


577]  OTHER  SOURCES  TO  JUSTINIAN  lyi 

had  thus  usurped  the  rule,  he  did  no  other  injury  to  the  em- 
peror but  allowed  him  to  live  as  a  private  citizen.  To  the 
barbarians  he  handed  over  the  third  of  all  arable  land,  by 
which  act  he  assured  their  devotion  to  himself;  and  he  held 
his  usurped  power  ten  years. 

Procopius  gives  the  following  account  of  how  Theodoric 
was  sent  into  Italy,  which  dififers  in  certain  respects  from 
the  account  by  Jordanes : 

Emperor  Zeno,  a  man  skilful  in  expedient  of  a  temperate 
kind,  exhorted  Theodoric  to  march  into  Italy,  and  entering 
the  lists  against  Odovacar,  to  win  the  western  rule  for  him- 
self and  the  Goths.  He  showed  him  that  it  was  better  for 
him,  now  especially  that  he  had  attained  the  dignity  of  Sena- 
tor, by  the  overthrow  of  a  tyrant  to  obtain  the  rule  over  all 
the  Romans  and  Italians  than,  by  continuing  the  struggle 
with  the  emperor,  to  run  so  many  risks  as  he  must  do.  Theo- 
doric then,  being  pleased  with  the  bargain,  departed  for 
Italy.     .     .     . 

The  differences  between  the  emperor  and  the  Goths  after 
the  death  of  Theodoric  are  summed  up  in  reports  of  the 
negotiations  of  Gothic  envoys  with  Belisarius : 

The  Gothic  envoys  to  Belisarius :  "  We  complain  of  you,  O 
Romans,  that  you  have  taken  up  arms  without  cause  against 
an  allied  and  friendly  people,  and  we  shall  prove  our  com- 
plaint by  facts  which  no  man  can  gainsay.  The  Goths  came 
into  possession  of  this  land  not  by  violently  wresting  it  from 
the  Romans,  but  by  taking  it  from  Odovacar,  who  having  over- 
turned the  emperor  of  that  day,  changed  the  polity  which 
existed  here  into  a  tyranny.  Now  Zeno  who  was  then  em- 
peror in  the  east  was  desirous  to  avenge  his  colleague  on  the 
usurper  and  to  free  the  country,  but  was  not  strong  enough 
to  cope  with  the  forces  of  Odovacar.  He  therefore  persuaded 
our  ruler  Theodoric,  who  was  at  that  very  time  meditating 


172  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [578 

the  siege  of  Byzantium,  to  forego  his  hostility  to  the  empire 
in  remembrance  of  the  dignities  which  he  had  already  received 
in  the  Roman  state,  those  namely  of  Patrician  and  Consul, 
to  avenge  upon  Odovacar  his  injustice  to  Augustulus,  and  to 
confer  upon  this  country  and  his  own  people  the  blessings  of  a 
just  and  stable  government.  Thus  then  did  our  nation  come 
to  be  guardians  of  this  land  of  Italy.  The  settled  order  of 
things  which  we  found  here  we  preserved,  nor  can  any  man 
point  to  any  new  law,  written  or  unwritten,  and  say  '  That  was 
introduced  by  Theodoric'  As  for  religious  affairs,  so  anxi- 
ously have  we  guarded  the  liberty  of  the  Romans  that  there 
is  no  instance  of  one  of  them  having  voluntarily  or  under  com- 
pulsion adopted  our  creed,  while  there  are  many  instances  of 
Goths  who  have  gone  over  to  yours,  not  one  of  whom  has 
suffered  any  punishment.  The  holy  places  of  the  Romans 
have  received  the  highest  honor  from  us,  and  their  right  of 
sanctuary  has  been  uniformly  respected.  The  high  offices  of 
the  state  have  always  been  held  by  Romans,  not  once  by  a 
Goth.  We  challenge  contradiction  if  any  of  our  statements 
are  incorrect.  Then  too,  the  Romans  have  been  permitted 
to  receive  a  Consul  every  year,  on  the  nomination  of  the 
emperor  in  the  east. 

"  To  sum  up.  You  did  nothing  to  help  Italy  when,  not  for 
a  few  months  but  for  ten  long  years,  she  was  groaning  under 
the  oppression  of  Odovacar  and  his  barbarians;  but  now  you 
are  putting  forth  all  your  strength  upon  no  valid  pretext 
against  her  rightful  occupants.  We  call  upon  you  therefore 
to  depart  hence,  to  enjoy  in  quiet  your  own  possessions  and 
the  plunder  which  during  this  war  you  have  collected  in  our 
country," 

Belisarius  to  the  Gothic  envoys :  "  You  promised  that  you 
would  speak  briefly  and  with  moderation,  but  you  have  given 
us  a  long  harangue,  full  of  something  very  like  bragging.  Em- 
])eror  Zeno  sent  Theodoric  to  make  war  upon  Odovacar,  not 
in  order  that  he  himself  should  obtain  the  kingship  of  Italy 
(for  what  would  have  been  the  advantage  of  replacing  one 


579]  OTHER  SOURCES  TO  JUSTINIAN  173 

tyrant  by  another?),  but  that  the  country  might  be  restored 
to  freedom  and  its  obedience  to  the  emperor.  Now  all  that 
Theodoric  did  against  the  usurper  was  well  done,  but  his  later 
behavior,  in  refusing  to  restore  the  country  to  its  rightful  lord, 
was  outrageously  ungrateful;  nor  can  I  see  any  difference  be- 
tween the  conduct  of  a  man  who  originally  lays  hands  on  an- 
other's property,  and  his  who,  when  such  a  stolen  treasure 
comes  into  his  possession,  refuses  to  restore  it  to  its  true 
owner.  Never,  therefore,  will  I  surrender  the  emperor's  land 
to  any  other  lord.  But  if  you  have  any  other  request  to  make, 
speak  on."  ^ 

Procopius  displays  marked  impartiality  toward  the  Goths, 
for  whom  he  often  expresses  sincere  admiration.  His  esti- 
mate of  Theodoric  does  him  particular  credit : 

Theodoric  was  an  extraordinary  lover  of  justice,  and  adhered 
rigorously  to  the  laws.  He  guarded  the  country  from  bar- 
barian invasion,  and  displayed  both  intelligence  and  prudence 
in  the  highest  degree.  Of  injustice  towards  his  subjects  there 
was  hardly  a  trace  in  his  government,  nor  would  he  allow 
any  of  his  subordinates  to  attempt  anything  of  the  kind,  save 
only  that  the  Goths  divided  among  themselves  the  same  pro- 
portion of  the  land  of  Italy  which  Odovacar  had  given  to  his 
partisans.  So  then  Theodoric  was  in  name  a  tyrant,  but  in 
deed  a  true  king,  not  inferior  to  the  best  of  his  predecessors, 
and  his  popularity  grew  greatly,  contrary  to  the  ordinary  fash- 
ion of  human  affairs,  both  among  Goths  and  Italians.  For 
generally,  as  different  classes  in  the  state  want  different  things, 
the  government  which  pleases  one  party,  has  to  incur  the 
odium  of  those  who  do  not  belong  to  it. 

After  a  reign  of  thirty-seven  years  he  died,  having  been  a 
terror  to  all  his  enemies,  and  left  a  deep  regret  for  his  loss  in 
the  hearts  of  his  subjects.* 

^  vi,  6.  -  V,  I. 


174  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [580 

On  Belisarius  and  the  differences  between  his  army  and 
that  of  the  Goths : 


In  public  the  Romans  naturally  expressed  their  wonder  at  the 
genius  of  Belisarius  which  had  achieved  such  a  victory,  but  in 
private  life  his  friends  inquired  of  him  what  was  the  token 
which,  in  the  first  day  of  successful  engagement  with  the 
enemy,  had  led  him  to  conclude  that  in  this  war  he  should 
be  uniformly  victorious.  Then  he  told  them  that,  at  the  be- 
ginning, when  the  engagement  had  been  limited  to  a  few  men 
on  each  side,  he  had  studied  what  were  the  characteristic  dif- 
ferences of  each  army,  in  order  that  when  the  battles  com- 
menced on  a  larger  scale  he  might  not  see  his  small  army 
overwhelmed  by  sheer  force  of  numbers.  The  chief  differ- 
ence which  he  noted  was  that  all  the  Romans  and  their  Hun- 
nish  allies  were  good  archers  on  horseback.  The  Goths,  on 
the  other  hand,  had  none  of  them  practised  this  art.  Their 
cavalry  fought  only  with  javelins  and  swords,  and  their  arch- 
ers were  drawn  up  for  battle  as  infantry,  and  covered  by  the 
cavalry.  Thus  the  horsemen,  unless  the  battle  became  a 
hand-to-hand  encounter,  having  no  means  of  replying  to  a 
discharge  of  weapons  from  a  distance,  were  easily  thrown  into 
confusion  and  cut  to  pieces,  while  the  foot-soldiers,  though 
able  to  reply  to  a  volley  of  arrows  from  a  distance,  could  not 
stand  against  sudden  charges  of  horse.  For  this  reason  Beli- 
sarius maintained  that  the  Goths  in  their  encounters  would 
always  be  worsted  by  the  Romans. 

Procopius  supplies  many  suggestive  facts  about  the  Van- 
dal kingdom  in  Africa.     He  says  of  Genseric : 

If  he  saw  any  man  among  the  provincials  of  Africa  flourish- 
ing in  reputation  and  wealth,  he  gave  him,  with  his  lands  and 
other  possessions,  to  his  sons  Huneric  and  Genzo,  as  servile 
property.     From  the  other  Africans  he  took  away  the  largest 


58l]  OTHER  SOURCES  TO  JUSTINIAN  175 

and  best  part  of  their  lands,  and  distributed  them  among  the 
nation  of  the  Vandals ;  and  from  that  time  these  lands  are 
called  the  Vandal  Allotments  unto  this  day.  The  former  pos- 
sessors of  these  lands  were  for  the  most  part  left  poor  and 
free — at  liberty,  that  is,  to  take  themselves  off  whither  they 
would.  Now  all  these  estates  which  Genseric  had  bestowed 
upon  his  sons  and  the  other  Vandals  were,  according  to  his 
orders,  free  from  the  payment  of  all  taxes.  But  all  the  land 
which  seemed  to  him  to  be  of  poorer  quality,  he  left  in  the 
hands  of  the  former  owners,  so  burdened  however  with  taxes 
and  public  charges  that  nothing  beyond  a  bare  subsistence 
could  be  reaped  by  the  nominal  possessors.  Many  of  these 
tried  to  flee,  but  were  arrested  and  put  to  death ;  for  sundry 
grievous  crimes  were  laid  to  their  charge,  the  greatest  of  all, 
according  to  his  estimate,  being  the  attempted  concealment  of 
treasure.  Thus  did  the  African  provincials  fall  into  every 
kind  of  misery. 

Genseric  arranged  the  Vandals  and  Alani  into  regiments 
over  whom  he  set  no  fewer  than  eighty  colonels,  whom  he 
called  Chiliarchs  (captains  of  thousands),  so  creating  the  be- 
lief that  his  forces  amounted  to  eighty  thousand  men.  Never- 
theless the  number  of  the  Vandals  and  Alani  was  said  in  time 
before  the  invasion  not  to  amount  to  more  than  fifty  thousand; 
but  the  natural  increase  of  the  population,  together  with  their 
practice  of  admitting  other  barbarians  into  their  confedera- 
tion, had  enormously  added  to  their  numbers.  The  names, 
however,  of  the  Alani,  and  of  every  other  barbarian  tribe  in 
the  confederacy  except  the  Moors,  were  all  merged  in  the 
one  designation  of  Vandals.^ 

The  Germans  seem  to  have  retained  their  physical  char- 
acteristics of  earlier  centuries: 

The  greatest  names  of  this  confraternity  of  nations  are  Goth 
and  Vandal  and  Visigoth  and  Gepid.     They  all  have  fair  skins 

1  iii,  5. 


176  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [582 

and  yellow  hair;  they  are  tall  of  stature  and  goodly  to  look 
upon.  They  all  possess  the  same  laws,  the  same  faith,  Arian 
Christianity ;  and  the  same  language,  the  Gothic.  To  me  they 
appear  all  to  have  formed  part  of  one  nation  in  old  time,  and 
afterwards  to  have  been  distinguished  from  each  other  by  the 
names  of  their  leaders. 

In  the  midst  of  the  narrative  of  the  Vandal  and  Gothic 
campaigns,  Procopius  inserts  interesting  and  often  valuable 
digressions  on  other  barbarian  affairs: 

The  Franks,  seeing  the  mischief  which  Goths  and  Romans 
were  inflicting  on  one  another,  and  the  length  to  which  the 
war  was  being  protracted,  began  to  take  it  very  ill  that  they 
should  obtain  no  advantage  from  the  calamities  of  a  country 
of  which  they  were  such  near  neighbors.  Forgetting,  there- 
fore, the  oaths  which  they  had  sworn  and  the  covenants  which 
they  had  ratified  only  a  short  time  before  with  both  kingdoms 
— for  this  nation  is  the  most  slippery  of  all  mankind  in  its 
observance  of  its  plighted  word — ^they  marched  into  Italy  to 
the  number  of  one  hundred  thousand  men  under  the  guid- 
ance of  their  king,  Theudebert.  A  few  horsemen  armed  with 
spears  surrounded  the  person  of  their  king:  all  the  rest 
fought  on  foot,  having  neither  bow  nor  spear,  but  each  with 
a  sword  and  shield  and  one  axe.  The  iron  of  this  axe  is 
stout,  sharp,  and  two-edged;  the  handle,  made  of  wood,  is  ex- 
ceedingly short.  At  a  given  signal  they  all  throw  these  axes, 
and  thus  at  the  first  onset  are  wont  to  break  the  shields  of  the 
enemy  and  slay  his  men. 

Another  good  example  of  his  useful  insertions  is  the  ad- 
dress of  the  Gepidae  to  Justinian : 

We  admit.  Sire,  that  he  who  proposes  to  a  neighbor  that  he 
should  form  an  alliance  with  him,  is  bound  to  show  that 
such  an  alliance. is  just  and  expedient.  That  we  shall  have 
no  difficulty  in  proving  in  the  present  instance.     The  alliance 


^83]  OTHER  SOURCES  TO  JUSTINIAN  lyy 

is  a  just  one,  for  we  have  been  of  old  the  foederati  of  the  Ro- 
mans, while  the  Lombards  have  only  of  late  become  friendly 
to  the  empire.  Moreover,  we  have  constantly  endeavored  to 
settle  our  differences  with  them  by  arbitration ;  but  this,  in 
their  braggart  insolence,  they  have  always  refused  till  now, 
when  perceiving  that  we  are  in  earnest  and  recognizing  their 
weakness  they  come  whining  to  you  for  succor.  And  the  alli- 
ance with  us  will  be  an  expedient  one,  for  any  one  who  is 
acquainted  with  the  subject  knows  that  in  numbers  and  mar- 
tial spirit  the  Gepidae  far  surpass  the  Lombards.  If  you 
choose  our  alliance  on  this  occasion,  grateful  for  your  pres- 
ent succor,  we  shall  follow  your  standard  against  every  other 
foe,  and  the  abundance  of  our  strength  will  insure  you  victory. 

But  then  these  robbers  pretend  that  Sirmium  and  certain 
other  parts  of  Dacia  are  a  sufficient  cause  of  war  between  us 
and  you.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  such  a  superabundance  of 
cities  and  territory  in  your  great  empire,  that  you  have  rather 
to  look  out  for  men  on  whom  to  bestow  a  portion  of  them.  To 
the  Franks,  to  the  Heruli,  and  even  to  these  very  Lombards, 
you  have  given  such  store  of  cities  and  fields  as  no  man  can 
number.  Relying  in  full  confidence  on  your  friendship,  we 
anticipated  your  intentions.  When  a  man  has  made  up  his 
mind  to  part  with  a  certain  possession,  how  much  more  highly 
does  he  value  the  friend  who  reads  his  thought  and  helps 
himself  to  the  intended  gift  (always  supposing  there  is  noth- 
ing insulting  in  his  way  of  doing  it),  than  him  who  passively 
receives  his  favor.  Now  the  former  is  exactly  the  position 
which  the  Gepidae  have  occupied  towards  the  Romans. 

Lay  these  things  to  heart  we  entreat  you.  If  it  be  possible, 
which  we  earnestly  desire,  join  us  with  your  whole  force 
against  the  Lombards.  But  if  that  be  not  possible,  stand 
aside  and  leave  us  to  fight  out  our  own  quarrels.^ 

^vii,  34. 


'  CHAPTER  XV 

Sources  from  Justinian  to  Pippin 

The  sources  for  the  period  from  400  to  550  narrate, 
with  numerous  contradictions  and  few  details,  the  gradual 
sloughing-off  of  the  western  provinces  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire and  the  beginnings  of  barbarian  "kingdoms."  Yet 
on  careful  study  of  these  sources  it  is  difficult  to  see  just 
how  the  invasions  of  the  century  and  a  half  differed  from 
earlier  ones  which  had  left  the  Roman  administration  and 
law  quite  intact.  We  still  read  of  German  fighting  Ger- 
man, of  the  barbarian  "  boss,"  of  the  empire  and  its  ma- 
jesty, of  marauding  expeditions,  of  coloni  and  foederati,  and 
if  not  of  conflicts  between  Christian  and  pagan,  at  least  of 
the  strife  of  Arian  and  Catholic.  But  somehow  the  Ger- 
manic invasions  have  increased  greatly  during  this  period 
in  numbers,  in  extent,  in  staying  power,  and  in  political 
influence. 

The  sources  which  treat  of  the  period  from  550  to  750 
are  probably  as  great  in  bulk  as  those  of  the  two  preced- 
ing centuries,  but  they  are  less  satisfactory.  They  dealt  with 
a  time  when  Germans  had  become  commonplace, — the  bar- 
barians were  then  settling  extensively  and  permanently  in  the 
western  provinces, — and  doubtless  the  writers  considered 
unnecessary  any  detailed  description  of  the  German  states 
or  of  the  fusion  of  the  newcomers  with  the  Roman  citizens. 
By  far  the  most  numerous  of  these  sources,  moreover,  are 
saints'  lives,  which  were  certainly  prepared  to  supply  other 
needs  than  the  comparative  study  of  politics  or  agrarian  re- 
178  [584 


m 


585]  SOURCES  FROM  JUSTINIAN  TO  PIPPIN  lyg 

search.  The  mass  of  saints'  lives  are  suggestive  of  the 
times  and  are  useful,  but  their  number  excludes  them  from 
consideration  in  a  review  of  this  kind.  Even  the  few  best 
known  narratives  of  the  late  sixth,  seventh,  and  early  eighth 
centuries,  which  can  be  specifically  mentioned,^  are  mainly 
concerned  with  religion,  with  petty  gossip  of  the  courts 
of  the  German  "  kings,"  and  with  earthquakes ;  they  give 
only  occasional  indirect  hints  as  to  the  social,  economic  and 
intellectual  life  of  the  time,  and  even  military  events,  to  be 
recorded,  must  be  accompanied  by  miracle  or  portent.  All 
these  sources  are  partisan  in  the  direction  of  great  Catholic 
piety.  Written  almost  without  exception  by  churchmen, 
they  reflect  religious  zeal  and  glow  with  fervor.  Pagan- 
ism dies,  and  there  are  no  more  pagan  sources.  Arianism 
is  killed,  and  we  have  no  Arian  sources.  What  learning- 
lives  on,  is  a  monopoly  of  Catholic  clergy,  and  we  must  re- 
member that  as  a  rule  one  class  can  hardly  convey  an  accur- 
ate impression  of  all  the  people  who  go  to  make  up  complex 
society.  If  no  one  at  the  present  time  could  write  English 
except  lawyers,  what  picture  would  our  descendants  have 
of  our  shoemakers,  janitors,  sisters  of  charity,  railroad  men, 
surveyors,  hewers  of  stone,  diggers  of  ditch,  clerks  and 
errand  boys?  The  writers  of  the  period  from  Justinian  to 
Pippin  are  of  one  mind :  love  of  God,  hatred  of  heretics, 
veneration  of  saints,  praise  of  rulers  who  favored  the 
church  or  themselves,  curses  on  those  who  opposed  holy 
church,  wonder  at  the  marvellous  interventions  of  God,  in- 
difference toward  mere  man.  They  make  the  catholic 
Roman  church  of  far  greater  importance  than  the  universal 

^  Practically  every  source  of  the  period  becomes  a  source  for  the 
Germans,  and  the  great  modern  guides — Potthast,  Ebert,  Wattenbach, 
Gross  and  Molinier — are  available.  The  last-named  gives  especially 
detailed  lists  of  saints'  lives  relating  to  the  history  of  Gaul  and  the 
Franks  (vol.  i). 


l8o  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [586 

Roman  empire,  although  in  that  respect  as  in  others  they 
may  bespeak  but  an  exaggerated  opinion  of  their  own  call- 
ing and  their  own  position.  We  should  be  on  our  guard 
against  overestimating  what  they  plainly  overestimated. 
Possibly  if  other  classes  of  men  had  left  their  records,  we 
should  not  view  the  period  as  one  of  unparalleled  faith. 

The  period  was  more  plausibly  one  of  unparalleled  ignor- 
ance. The  sources  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  con- 
sidered as  a  whole,  reach  the  lowest  degradation.  Scanty, 
obscure,  illiterate,  and  often  anonymous,  they  reflect  the 
intellectual  poverty  of  the  age.  They  are  impressive  wit- 
nesses to  a  change  which  Germanic  immigration  and  in- 
vasion had  effected,  more  momentous  than  the  lapse  of 
political  institutions  or  even  the  transition  of  social  condi- 
tions. That  change  was  a  marked  decline  in  culture  and 
civilization. 

The  most  destructive  Germans  are  said  to  have  been  the 
Angles  and  Saxons  in  Britain  and  the  Lombards  in  Italy. 
It  appears  that  the  Roman  military  organization  in  Britain 
was  weakened  by  numerous  civil  wars  resulting  from  at- 
tempts of  provincial  governors  to  usurp  imperial  power  ^ 
and  by  ravages  of  Picts  and  Scots  from  the  north.  The 
Roman  legions  were  permanently  withdrawn  from  Britain 
early  in  the  fifth  century,  and  the  civil  government  may 
have  vanished  with  the  military  occupation.  Then  came 
the  Angles  and  Saxons,  and  a  conflict  seems  to  have  been 
inaugurated  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  which 
lasted  more  than  a  hundred  years  and  resulted  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  several  Germanic  kingdoms.     It  is  alleged  that 

1  See  E.  A.  Freeman,  Western  Europe  in  the  Fifth  Century  (London, 
1904),  which  includes  the  substance  of  two  articles  published  in  the 
English  Historical  Review  in  1886  and  1887.  The  most  recent  account 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  invasion  of  Britain  is  that  of  H.  M.  Chadwick, 
The  Origin  of  the  English  Nation  (Cambridge,  1907)- 


587]  SOURCES  FROM  JUSTINIAN  TO  PIPPIN  181 

in  the  British  provinces  there  was  more  strictly  speaking 
a  war  of  conquest  waged  by  the  Germans,  attended  by  a 
more  complete  breakdown  of  Roman  customs  and  institu- 
tions, than  was  the  case  in  other  provinces.  But  the  sources 
relating  to  the  loss  of  Britain  are  exceedingly  scanty. 

Practically  the  only  contemporary  narrative  about  the 
invasions  of  the  Angles  and  Saxons  is  the  curious  collec- 
tion of  the  monk  Gildas  (cca.  516-573),  who  pictures  in  ex- 
travagant colors  the  sufferings  of  his  native  country  sub- 
sequent to  the  landing  of  the  Germans.  His  work,  en- 
titled Liber  querolus  de  calamitate,  excidio  et  conquestu 
Britanniae,^  is  divided  into  two  parts:  the  first  (Historia) 
contains  in  twenty-six  chapters  not  a  straightforward  his- 
torical narrative  but  merely  rhetorical  declamations  on  sup- 
posedly historical  episodes ;  the  second  part  {Epistola)  con- 
sists of  bombastic  reproaches  directed  against  clergy  and 
the  "  kings  "  of  the  country, — Constantine,  Aurelius  Con- 
anus,  Vortigern,  Cuneglassus,  Maglocunus,  etc.  The  tone 
is  violent  throughout,  and  the  diction  is  sometimes  almost 
unintelligible,  owing  to  the  long  and  entangled  sentences. 

In  Italy,  barbarian  incursions  recommenced  shortly  after 
the  final  destruction  of  Ostrogothic  rule  in  553.  The  Lom- 
bards who  had  settled  in  Pannonia  after  the  Goths  left  and 
had  repeatedly  served  the  Roman  emperor,  were  now  able 
on  the  death  of  Justinian .  in  568  to  establish  themselves 
firmly  in  northern  Italy  and  extend  their  influence  through- 
out the  interior  of  the  peninsula  to  Beneventum.     The  Lom- 

^  Or  De  excidio  et  conquestu  Britanniae  ac  Hebili  castigatione  in 
reges,  principes  et  sacerdotes  epistola.  Edited  by  Petrie  in  Monutnenta 
historica  britannica,  vol.  i  (London,  1848)  ;  by  A.  W.  Haddan  and  W. 
Stubbs  in  Councils  and  Ecclesiastical  Documents  relating  to  Great 
Britain,  vol.  i  (Oxford,  1869)  ;  and  by  T.  Mommsen  in  Monumenta 
Germaniae  historica,  Auctores  Antiquissimi,  vol.  xiii  (Berlin,  1898). 
English  translation  by  J.  A.  Giles  in  the  Bohn  Antiquarian  Library, 
vol.  iv  (London,  1848). 


l82  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [588 

bard  kingdom  lasted  throughout  the  seventh  century  and 
the  first  half  of  the  eighth,  and  seems  to  have  been  quite 
different  from  earher  barbarian  settlements  in  Italy.  As 
nearly  as  we  can  gather  from  the  sources,  its  kings  were  not 
eager  for  office  under  the  empire,  as  Alaric,  Odovacar  and 
Theodoric  had  been ;  they  conquered  the  country  as  did  the 
Angles  and  Saxons  in  Britain;  they  destroyed  Roman  ad- 
ministration and  substituted  their  own  law  for  that  of  the 
commonwealth.  But  the  sources  relating  to  the  Lombards 
are  fragmentary  and  unsatisfactory.  They  are  chiefly 
papal  letters,  especially  those  of  Gregory  the  Great  (cca. 
540-604),  the  Lombard  laws  (cca.  643),  and,  considerably 
later,  the  Lombard  history  of  Paul  the  Deacon.^ 

The  damning  heresy  of  the  Lombards  and  their  ambition 
to  possess  all  Italy  evoked  the  tears  and  protests  of  the 
pontiffs.^  A  letter  of  Pelagius  II  to  the  bishop  of  Auxerre, 
which  was  probably  written  in  581,  is  typical: 

Not  without  some  great  purpose  has  it  been  ordained  by  Divine 
Providence  that  your  [Prankish]  kings  should  share  with  the 

^  On  the  Lombard  laws,  see  infra,  pp.  214-8.  About  the  year  670  an 
unknown  writer  prefixed  to  the  code  a  prologue  on  the  origin  of  the 
Lombards,  which  is  purely  legendary.  This  Origo  Langobardorum  is 
edited  by  G.  Waitz  in  the  Monumenta  Gertnaniae  historica,  Scriptores 
rerum  Langobardicarum  et  Italicarutn,  pp.  1-6  (Hanover,  1878).  On 
Paul  the  Deacon,  see  infra,  p.  193. 

-  The  letters  of  Gregory  the  Great  and  other  popes  up  to  Innocent  III, 
published  in  part  in  the  Patrologia  laiina  of  Migne,  have  been  an- 
alyzed by  Ph.  Jaffe,  Regesta  pontiUcum  romanorum,  new  edition  much 
enlarged  by  Wattenbach,  Kaltenbrunner  and  Ewald,  2  vols.  (Leipzig, 
1885-1888).  For  Gregory's  writings,  see  A.  Ebert,  Allgemeine  Ge- 
schichte  der  Literatur  des  Mittelalters  im  Abendlande,  also  translated 
into  French  (Paris,  1884)  ;  and  F.  H.  Dudden,  Gregory  the  Great,  his 
place  in  History  and  Thought,  2  vols.  (London,  1905).  The  Liber 
pontiUcalis  of  the  Roman  bishops  furnishes  a  few  details  on  the  Ger- 
manic movements,  edited  by  L.  Duchesne,  2  vols.  (Paris,  1884,  1893). 
A  new  edition  of  the  Liber  PontiHcalis  was  begun  by  T.  Mommsen  in 
the  Monumenta  Germaniae  historica  (Berlin,  1898). 


589]  SOURCES  FROM  JUSTINIAN  TO  PIPPIN  183 

Roman  empire  in  the  confession  of  the  orthodox  faith.  As- 
suredly this  was  brought  to  pass  in  order  that  they  might  be, 
so-to-speak,  neighbors  and  helpers  of  this  city  of  Rome,  whence 
that  confession  took  its  birth,  and  of  the  whole  of  Italy.  Be- 
ware, then,  dearest  brother,  lest  through  levity  of  purpose  your 
kings  should  fail  in  their  high  mission.  .  .  .  Persuade  them 
as  earnestly  as  you  can  to  keep  themselves  from  all  friendship 
and  alliance  with  our  most  unspeakable  enemies,  the  Lom- 
bards, lest  when  the  day  of  vengeance  dawns  (which  we  trust 
in  the  Divine  mercy  it  will  do  speedily),  your  kings  should 
share  in  the  Lombards'  punishment     .     .     .^ 

Gregory's  letters  are  an  especially  important  historical 
source  if  used  critically.-  Some  of  his  saints'  lives  have 
interesting  details,  but  in  the  main  they  are  mere  collections 
of  quaint,  fantastic  tales.'  His  most  recent  biographer 
says  *  of  him : 

1  Ad  Aunacharium,  ed.  Migne,  Patrol,  lat.,  vol.  Ixxii,  p.  706. 

-  Gregory  the  Great  (d.  604).  His  844  letters,  divided  into  12 
books,  are  edited  by  Migne,  Patrol,  lat.,  vol.  Ixxvii,  pp.  441-1328.  There 
is  an  old  German  translation  by  M.  Feyerabend  (Kempten,  1807-9). 
See  P.  Ewald,  Studien  zur  Ausgabe  des  Registers  Gregors  I  (Han- 
over, 1878).  A  new  edition  of  Gregory's  Letters  was  begun  by  P. 
Ewald,  Monumenta  Germaniae  historica,  Epistolae,  vol.  i  (Berlin,  1887) 
and  carried  on  by  L.  M.  Hartmann,  ibid.,  vol.  ii  (Berlin,  1893). 

3  The  weird  tale  of  casting  Theodoric  into  the  crater  of  Lipari  is 
related  in  the  Dialogues,  iv,  30.  Gregory  saw  the  barbarians  less  than 
God's  judgment.  He  writes  in  his  biography  of  Benedict  of  a  con- 
versation between  the  saint  and  a  certain  visiting  priest  (ch.  15)  : 
"  When  .they  were  talking  concerning  the  entry  of  King  Totila  and  the 
destruction  of  the  city  of  Rome,  the  priest  said,  '  The  city  will  be  de- 
stroyed by  that  king  so  that  it  shall  be  inhabited  no  more.'  To  whom 
the  man  of  God  made  answer,  '  Rome  shall  not  be  overthrown  by 
the  tribes,  but,  wearied  with  tempests,  lightnings,  whirlwinds  and  earth- 
quakes, it  shall  consume  away  by  itself.'  The  meaning  of  the  prophecy 
is  now  made  clearer  than  daylight  to  us,  who  see  in  the  city,  walls 
shattered,  houses  thrown  down,  churches  destroyed  by  the  whirlwind, 
and  great  edifices,  loosened  by  long  old  age,  falling  around  us  in 
abounding  ruin."     Ed.  Migne,  Patrol,  lat.,  vol.  Ixvi,  p.  162. 

*  F.  H.  Dudden,  op.  cit.,  vol.  i,  p.  356. 


1 84         SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [590 

It  is  certainly  astonishing  that  the  clear-headed  man  who 
managed  the  papal  estates  and  governed  the  Church  with 
such  admirable  skill,  should  have  contributed  to  the  propa- 
gation of  these  wild  tales  of  demons  and  wizards  and  haunted 
houses,  of  souls  made  visible,  of  rivers  obedient  to  written 
orders,  of  corpses  that  scream  and  walk.  And  yet  such  was 
the  fact.  The  landlord  of  the  Papal  Patrimonies  and  the 
author  of  the  Dialogues  are  one  and  the  same  person.  And 
in  him  we  have,  perhaps,  the  first  genuine  Italian  example  of 
the  mediaeval  intellect. 

About  the  time  of  Gregory's  death,  Secundus,  bishop  of 
Trent,  wrote  a  history  of  the  Lombards  which  seems  to 
have  been  valuable,  but  is  now  lost  to  us  save  a  few  ex- 
tracts preserved  by  Paul  the  Deacon. 

r  The  principal  source  relating  to  the  Franks  in  the  sixth 
century  is  the  history  of  Gregory  of  Tours.  He  was 
born  at  Clermont  in  Auvergne  between  539  and  543,  the 
son  of  a  provincial  senator.  What  education  he  had,  he 
secured  under  an  uncle  who  was  bishop  of  Clermont.  Gre- 
gory took  holy  orders  and  was  received  at  the  Austrasian 
court.     His  reputation  for  piety  and  wisdom  secured  him 

1  in  573  the  bishopric  of  Tours.  He  continued  to  take  an 
active  interest  in  Prankish  politics,  although  he  incurred 
the  bitter  enmity  of  Queen  Fredegond.  He  died  at  Tours 
in  November,  594.  He  left  a  treatise  on  miracles,  which, 
except  for  a  few  statements  about  Martin  of  Tours,  has  no 
(     historical  interest ;  and  the  celebrated  Historia  Francorum  ^ 

\    in  ten  books. 

1  Edited  by  W.  Arndt  in  Monumenta  Germaniae  historica,  Scriptores^ 
rerum  Merovingicarum,  vol.  i  (Hanover,  1885)  ;  and  by  H.  Omont  and 
G.  Collon  in  Collection  de  textes  pour  servir  a  I'etude  et  a  I'enseigne- 
ment  de  I'histoire,  vols,  ii,  xvii  (Paris,  1887,  1894).  There  is  a  French 
translation  by  Guizot,  revised  by  A.  Jacobs  (Paris,  1863),  and  a  Ger- 
man translation  by  W.  Giesebrecht  in  the  Geschichtschreiher.  See  G> 
Kurth,  Clovis,  2  vols.   (Paris,  1901). 


59 1 ]  SOURCES  FROM  JUSTINIAN  TO  PIPPIN  185 

The  first  book,  concluding  with  the  death  of  Martin  of 
Tours  in  397,  is  an  absurd  and  confused  resume  of  ancient 
history,  which  would  be  as  lacking  in  interest  as  in  chrono- 
logical exactness  did  it  not  contain  some  details  about  the 
establishment  of  Christianity  in  Gaul,  details  of  little  value 
as  historical  events  but  which  picture  naively,  and  some- 
times with  charm,  the  condition  of  mind  and  manners  in 
his  own  day;  few  anecdotes  are  more  poetic  or  touching 
than  the  legend  of  the  Two  Lovers.  The  second  book  ex- 
tends from  397  to  the  death  of  Clovis  (511);  the  third  to 
the  death  of  Theodebert,  king  of  Austrasia  (547)  ;  the 
fourth  to  the  death  of  Sigebert  (575)  ;  the  fifth  book  com- 
prises the  first  five  years  of  the  reign  of  Childebert  of 
Austrasia  (575-580)  ;  the  sixth  comes  down  to  the  death 
of  Chilperic  in  584 ;  the  seventh  treats  of  the  year  585 ; 
the  eighth  extends  to  the  death  of  Leuvigild,  king  of  Spain, 
in  586;  the  ninth  to  589;  the  tenth  stops  in  August,  591. 
Thus  the  work  covers  from  the  death  of  Saint  Martin  a 
period  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-four  years,  of  the  last 
fifty  of  which  the  writer  was  a  contemporary,    j.   'Ctv^  ,*.  .7 

The  history  is  written  in  very  bad  Latin.^  Gregory's 
prefatory  apology  is  not  too  modest: 

The  culture  of  letters  and  of  the  liberal  arts  departing,  perish- 
ing even  in  the  cities  of  Gaul,  in  the  midst  of  good  and  evil 
acts  committed  here  while  the  barbarians  surrendered  them- 
selves to  their  ferocity  and  the  kings  to  their  fury;  while  the 
churches  were  attacked  by  heretics  and  defended  by  Catholics ; 
while  the  Christian  faith,  fervent  in  many  hearts,  was  cold 
in  others ;  while  the  churches  were  in  turn  enriched  by  pious 
men  and  despoiled  by  infidels,  no  grammarian  skilled  in  the 

^  But  see  M.  A.  Bonnet,  Le  Latin  de  Gregoire  de  Tours  ( Paris, 
1890),  and  B.  Krusch,  "  Zu  M.  Bonnets  Untersuchungen  uber  Gregor 
von  Tours "  in  Neues  Archiv  der  Gesellschaft  fur  alt  ere  deutsche 
Geschichte,  vol.  xvi  (1891). 


l86         SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [592 

art  of  dialectic  has  undertaken  to  write  down  these  things  in 
prose  or  in  verse.  Thus  many  men  groan  and  say  "  Woe 
to  our  days!  the  study  of  letters  perishes  among  us,  and  no 
one  is  found  who  can  recount  in  his  writings  the  deeds  of 
the  present."  Seeing  which,  I  have  judged  it  meet  to  preserve, 
albeit  in  rustic  language,  the  memory  of  past  things  so  that 
they  may  be  known  to  posterity. 

I  have  been  unable  to  pass  in  silence  the  broils  of  evildoers 
or  the  life  of  good  people.  I  have  above  all  been  stimulated 
by  what  I  have  often  heard  told  my  contemporaries,  that  few 
men  understand  a  philosophical  rhetorician,  although  the  word 
of  a  simple  unpretentious  man  is  understood  by  a  great 
number.     .     .     . 

And  now,  on  the  point  of  writing  about  the  conflict  of  kings 
with  hostile  nations,  of  martyrs  with  pagans,  and  of  the 
churches  with  heretics,  I  first  want  to  profess  my  faith,  that 
he  who  reads  may  not  doubt  me  to  be  a  Catholic. 

Another  reason,  the  opinion  of  those  who  are  troubled  about 
the  approaching  end  of  the  world,  determines  me  to  collect 
from  the  chronicles  and  histories  the  number  of  years  already 
passed  in  order  that  we  may  know  clearly  how  many  have 
gone  by  since  the  beginning  of  the  world.  But  first  I  shall 
beg  the  indulgence  of  readers  if  either  in  style  or  in  words 
I  violate  grammatical  rules  in  which  I  am  not  very  well  in- 
structed. I  have  applied  myself  solely  to  absorbing  with 
simplicity  and  without  questioning  the  faith  which  the  Church 
teaches,  for  I  know  that  man,  subject  to  sins,  can  through 
simple  faith  obtain  pardon  from  God. 

In  spite  of  the  very  bad  Latin,  the  history  is  very  useful. 
Gregory's  prominent  place  at  court  and  his  episcopal  office 
at  Tours,  whither  thousands  of  pilgrims  flocked  to  revere 
the  shrine  of  Saint  Martin,  afforded  him  excellent  oppor- 
tunities to  talk  with  prominent  men  and  familiarize  himself 
with  public  affairs.  Moreover,  he  must  have  had  personal 
knowledge  of  many  things  which  he  narrates,  for  the  last 
eight  books  are  really  a  history  of  his  own  time. 


593]  SOURCES  FROM  JUSTINIAN  TO  PIPPIN  igy 

The  major  portion  of  the  narrative  treats  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal squabbles,  dogma  and  heresy.  The  minor  part  relates 
court  deeds  and  gossip.  The  narrative  is  not  continuous 
throughout,  but  is  interrupted  by  frequent  digressions, 
anecdotes,  sermons  and  occasionally  an  illuminating  de- 
scription. The  whole  is  presented,  however,  with  such 
manifest  candor  and  frankness  and  directness  as  to  convince 
the  reader  of  the  author's  sincerity  of  purpose.  It  is  ob- 
vious that  Gregory  tried  to  be  truthful. 

The  work  suggests  many  ideas  to  us  about  the  manner  in 
which  the  barbarians  adapted  Roman  customs  and  civiliza- 
tion. This  Gregory  of  Tours,  who  writes  nearly  a  century 
after  Clovis,  is  himself  of  a  noble  Gallo-Roman  family; 
speaks  always  respectfully  of  the  empire;  talks  glibly  of 
senators,  patricians  and  tribunes;  seldom  seems  aware  that 
social  or  political  institutions  have  undergone  any  change 
whatsoever  since  the  advent  of  the  barbarians.  On  the 
other  hand,  Gregory  is  a  zealous  Christian  bishop:  in  his 
work,  there  is  to  be  found  an  intense  interest  in  miracles  and 
a  fondness  for  allegory;  there  is  confusion  of  ecclesiastical 
and  political  interests,  with  symptoms  of  friction  and  ulti- 
mately of  ecclesiastical  triumph;  there  are  evidences  of 
feudal  society;  there  is  the  growth  of  ascetic  ideals  and 
monasticism;  there  is  the  ultra-devotion  to  Catholicism. 
horror  of  heresy,  prejudice  against  the  Jews,  crusades  in 
the  interest  of  religion,  respect  for  the  Roman  see.  Gre- 
gory is  an  interesting  product  of  his  time,  at  once  a  Roman 
and  a  mediaeval  churchman. 

In  every  book  there  are  four  or  five  sections  devoted  to 
earthquakes,  pestilences,  floods  and  prodigies.  Miracles 
and  prophecies  and  the  casting-out  of  devils  are  recorded 
as  everyday  occurrences.  The  following  is  an  example  of 
Gregory's  taste  and  of  his  familiar  style : 


l88  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [594 

After  the  synod  of  which  I  have  spoken,  I  had  already  bade 
the  king  farewell  and  was  preparing  to  return  home;  but  not 
wanting  to  go  without  having  said  goodby  to  Salvius  [bishop 
of  Albi]  and  embraced  him,  I  went  to  look  for  him,  and 
found  him  at  the  house  of  Brinnacius;  I  told  him  I  was  going 
home,  and  walking  aside  to  chat  a  bit,  he  said  to  me,  "  Do  you 
not  see  above  this  roof  what  I  perceive  ?"  "  I  see,"  I  replied, 
"  a  second  little  structure  which  the  king  has  lately  built 
there."  And  he  said,  "  Don't  you  see  something  else  ?"  "  I  see 
nothing  else,"  said  I ;  and  thinking  that  he  spoke  thus  in  jest,  I 
added,  "  If  you  see  something  else,  tell  me."  And  he,  heaving 
a  deep  sigh,  said  to  me  "  I  see  the  sword  of  divine  anger  drawn 
and  suspended  over  this  house."  And  the  words  of  the 
bishop  were  true,  for  twenty  days  afterwards,  the  king,  as 
we  have  said,  lost  his  two  sons.^ 

There  are  more  references  in  the  Historia  Francorum  to 
social  conditions  than  in  most  of  the  sources  which  we 
have  reviewed.  Two  bishops  are  mentioned  who  came 
out  to  fight  the  Lombards,  *'  armed  not  with  the  heavenly 
cross  but  with  secular  armor,  and  they  killed  many  with 
their  own  hands."  ^  The  taxes  of  Chilperic  were  so  heavy 
that  many  people  had  to  leave  the  country;  riots  resulted, 
and  in  Limousin  the  tax-rolls  were  burned.^  "...  One 
day  the  bishop  assembled  his  laborers  in  a  field  which  they 
were  to  work  for  him  ..."  *  A  Gallo-Roman,  nephew 
of  the  bishop  of  Langres,  was  held  in  serfdom  as  a  hostage 
by  a  barbarian  who  lived  near  Trier.'*  King  Gontram 
inflicted  the  death  penalty  on  one  of  his  officials  who  killed 
a  buflfalo  in  the  forest  preserves,  but  Gregory  remarks  that 
it  was  really  a  little  offence  and  that  the  king  regretted  the 
severity  of  the  punishment. '^  There  is  a  charming  picture 
of  the  town  of  Dijon : '' 

1    V,  50.  -  iv,  42.  ^  V,  28.  *  vi,  36. 

6  iii,  15.  «  X,  10.  '  iii,  19. 


595]  SOURCES  FROM  JUSTINIAN  TO  PIPPIN  189 

It  is  a  town  hemmed  in  by  very  solid  walls,  in  the  middle  of 
a  smiling  plain  whose  land  is  so  fertile  that  sowing  can  be 
done  without  ploughing;  to  the  south  is  the  river  Ouche,  full 
of  fish ;  there  comes  from  the  north  another  little  stream  which 
enters  through  a  gate,  passes  under  a  bridge,  goes  out  by 
another  gate,  and  surrounds  the  ramparts  with  its  quiet  flow. 
Before  the  gate  it  turns  several  mills  with  great  rapidity. 
Dijon  has  four  gates,  located  at  the  four  cardinal  points;  the 
entire  structure  is  adorned  with  twenty-three  towers,  and  the 
walls  are  built  of  block  stone  to  a  height  of  twenty  feet 
and  of  small  stones  higher  still.  In  all  they  are  thirty  feet 
high  and  fifteen  feet  thick.  I  do  not  know  why  this  place  is 
not  called  a  city;  it  has  in  its  territory  abundant  resources;  to 
the  west  are  very  fertile  hills,  covered  with  vines  which  supply 
the  inhabitants  such  noble  Falernian  that  they  despise  the  wine 
of  Chalons.  The  ancients  say  this  town  was  built  by  Emperor 
Aurelian. 

A  suggestion  of  the  education  of  the  time  is  furnished  by  a 
statement  ^  concerning  the  servant  of  a  senator,  who 

went  with  his  master  to  serve  him  and  applying  himself  to  the 
study  of  letters  he  became  celebrated  on  account  of  his  educa- 
tion, for  he  was  perfectly  instructed  in  the  works  of  Virgil, 
in  the  laws  of  the  Theodosian  Code,  and  in  the  science  of 
mathematics. 

Sidelights  on  Gallic  history  of  the  sixth  century  are  sup- 
plied by  a  genial  abbe,  who  loved  song  and  the  society  of 
fair  women.  Venantius  Fortunatus  (H.  535-600)  was  a 
native  of  Treviso  in  northeastern  Italy  and  studied  at 
Ravenna,  but  spent  the  major  portion  of  his  life  in  travel. 
He  toured  the  Alpine  region  and  southern  Germany,  tra- 
versed Gaul  as  far  as  the  Pyrenees,  and  even  wrote  songs 

1  iv,  46. 


ipo         SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [596 

from  Britain.  He  visited  Tours,  thanks,  as  he  says  him- 
self, to  the  miraculous  guidance  of  Saint  Martin,  and  there 
was  graciously  received  by  Bishop  Gregory.  His  long 
wanderings  were  at  length  brought  to  a  close  by  the  charm- 
ing widow  of  the  Frankish  king,  Clotaire  I  (d.  561),  who 
was  presiding  over  a  convent  which  she  had  founded  at 
Poitiers.  To  her  Fortunatus  addressed  passionate  poems; 
and  after  her  death  he  wrote  her  biography  and  continued 
to  send  passionate  poems  to  her  daughter.  He  became  a 
priest  and  Paul  the  Deacon  affirms  ^  that  he  was  bishop 
of  Poitiers.  Fortunatus  was  a  worldly  man,  a  parlor  par- 
son, quite  as  much  concerned  with  dainty  dishes  prepared 
for  him  by  the  sisters  -  as  with  the  salvation  of  souls ;  and 
he  was  doubtless  a  social  lion  at  Poitiers,  His  saints'  lives 
are  rather  happily  written;  they  suggest  the  times  perhaps 
better  than  lives  written  by  churchmen  who  were  more 
obviously  pious  and  austere.  His  eleven  books  of  poems  ^ 
are  of  some  historical  interest  because  they  often  treat  of 
historical  subjects.  The  first  three  relate  to  ecclesiastical 
matters  and  persons;  the  fourth  comprises  epitaphs  on 
some  men  and  many  ladies ;  the  fifth  is  addressed  to  bishops ; 
the  sixth  to  kings,  queens,  and  princesses;  the  seventh  to 
courtiers;  the  last  four  to  various  people.  Fortunatus 
had  a  decided  talent  for  writing  verses.  The  Germans  had 
not  blotted  out  all  learning  and  all  cleverness. 

The  intellectual  life  of  the  west  in  the  seventh  century 
seems  to  have  been  greatest  in  Ireland  and  in  Spain.  The 
former  was  not  greatly  affected  by  the  Germanic  invasions, 

^  Historia  Langobardorutn,  ii,  13. 

2  xi,  9,  10. 

'  His  complete  works  are  in  Monumenta  Germaniae  historica,  Auc- 
tores  Antiquissimi,  vol.  iv,  the  poems  edited  by  F.  Leo  and  the  prose 
works  by  B.  Krusch  (Berlin,  1881,  1885).  French  translation  by  C. 
Nisard  (Paris,  1887).    See  C.  Nisard,  Lc  poete  Fortunat  (Paris,  1890). 


597]  SOURCES  FROM  JUSTINIAN  TO  PIPPIN  igi 

but  the  latter,  as  the  seat  of  the  Visigothic  kingdom,  is 
important  for  our  purposes.  Several  names  indicate  that 
culture  was  not  dead  in  Spain:  the  bishops  Eugenius  and 
Julian  ^  of  Toledo,  and  Marcus  Maximus  -  and  Braulio  * 
of  Saragossa.  The  Visigothic  king  Sisebutus  (612-621) 
left  sixty-one  correct  hexameters  on  eclipses  of  the  sun  and 
moon,  in  addition  to  interesting  and  useful  letters.*  But  .^ 
the  greatest  of  the  Spanish  writers  was  Isidore  of  Seville  1. 
(cca.  570-636),  not  because  he  was  very  learned  or  pos- 
sessed remarkable  acumen,  but  because  he  wrote  very  ex- 
tensively and  became  one  of  the  most  influential  teachers  of 
the  middle  age.  In  addition  to  his  fantastic  pseudo-scien- 
tific Etymologies  and  De  natura  rerum,  he  prepared  a  slight 
chronicle,  which  continued  those  of  Eusebius,  Jerome,  and 
Victor  Tonnennensis  down  to  615.  It  is  divided,  in  imita- 
tion of  Saint  Augustine,  according  to  the  six  ages  of  the 
world  symbolized  by  the  six  days  of  creation,  and  contains 
invaluable  notes  for  the  history  of  Spain  subsequent  to 
Orosius.^  Isidore  completed  probably  in  the  year  of  the  * 
death  of  King  Sisebutus  a  short  history  of  Goths,  Vandals,  I 
and  Sueves,  which  is  more  important  than  the  chronicle, 

'^  Julian's  history  of  the  expedition  of  King  Wamba  against  a  re- 
bellious duke  of  Narbonne  is  in  Migne,  Patrol,  lat.,  vol.  xcvi,  pp.  763- 
808.    For  the  writings  of  Eugenius,  see  Migne,  Patrol,  lat.,  vol.  Ixxxvii. 

*  Marcus  Maximus  (d.  619)  wrote  part  of  k  chronicle  extending 
from  468  to  644.     Edited  in  Migne,  Patrol,  lat.,  vol.  Ixxx. 

'Forty-four  letters  of  Braulio  (d.  651)  are  edited  by  M.  Risco  in 
Florez,  Espana  sagrada,  vol.  xxx.  See  P.  B.  Gams,  Kirchengeschichte 
Spaniens,  vol.  ii,  pp.  146-149  (Regensburg,  1874). 

*  The  letters  of  Sisebutus  are  in  Florez,  Espana  sagrada,  vol.  vii ; 
and  in  Migne,  Patrol,  lat.,  vol.  Ixxx. 

"See  A.  Ebert,  Allgemeine  Geschichte  der  Literatur  des  Mittelalters 
itn  Ahendlande  (Leipzig,  1889),  vol.  i,  pp.  518-542.  The  chronicle  is 
extant  in  two  versions,  varying  slightly  in  length  and  detail.  The 
complete  works  of  Isidore  are  in  Migne,  Patrol,  lat.,  vols.  Ixxxi-lxxxiv. 


192  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [598 

and  about  five  years  later  issued  a  second  revised  edition, 
enlarged  by  the  addition  of  Biblical  quotations  and  ortho- 
dox outpourings.^  Isidore's  continuation  of  Gennadius's 
"  Lives  of  Illustrious  Men  "  was  itself  continued  by  his 
pupil  Ildefonsus  (d.  667),  bishop  of  Toledo.^ 

The  best  known  sources  of  the  late  seventh  and  early 
eighth  centuries,  relating  to  the  Germans,  are  the  Vener- 
able Bede  for  Britain,  the  pseudo-Fredegarius  and  the 
Gesta  regum  Francorum  for  Gaul,  and  for  Italy  Paul  the 
Deacon. 

The  Venerable  Bede  was  born  in  Northumberland  in 
674,  became  a  priest  in  704  and  died  in  735.  He  contrib- 
uted the  usual  services  to  saints;  prepared  a  short  treatise 
on  chronology,  reckoning  dates  from  the  birth  of  Christ; 
and  wrote  two  works  of  special  interest  to  us :  a  chronicle 
from  creation  to  the  year  726,  and  the  highly  prized  and 
unique  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  'English  People,  in 
five  books,  extending  down  to  731.'' 

The  best  contemporary  account  of  Prankish  history  in 
the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries  is  a  compilation  ascribed 
since  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  to  a  certain  Frede- 
garius  Scholasticus  without  any  indication  in  any  manu- 
script or  elsewhere  to  justify  such  an  assumption.*      Ac- 

1  Both  versions  of  ^he  Historia  Gothorum,  Vandalorum  et  Suevorum 
are  extant. 

2  In  Migne,  Patrol,  lat.,  vol.  Ixxx.  St.  Jerome  had  prepared  brief 
biographical  sketches  of  prominent  churchmen,  which  were  brought  up 
to  date  by  the  additions  and  amendments  of  Gennadius,  a  priest  at 
Marseilles  {cca.  495). 

"  The  complete  works  of  the  Venerable  Bede  are  in  Migne,  Patrol, 
lat.,  vols,  xc-xcv.  The  Ecclesiastical  History  is  edited  separately  by 
A.  Holder  (Freiburg-i-B.,  1882).  The  best  edition  of  the  latter  is 
now  that  of  C.  Plummer,  2  vols.  (Oxford,  1896).  There  is  an  Eng- 
lish translation  with  accompanying  text  by  T.  Miller  (London,  1890). 

*  The  first  editor  who,  to  our  knowledge,  used  the  name  Frede- 
garius  was  CI.  Fauchet  (1579)  in  the  Antiquites  gauloises. 


599]  SOURCES  FROM  JUSTINIAN  TO  PIPPIN  193 

cording  to  Krusch — the  editor  of  the  standard  edition  of 
the  compilation/ — it  was  begun  in  613  by  an  author  who 
lived  in  Switzerland  and  who  joined  together  the  annals 
of  Hippolytus,-  Jerome  and  Idatius,  and  wrote  the  first 
forty-two  chapters  of  the  new  work ;  a  second  author  added 
in  642  an  abridgment  of  Gregory  of  Tours  and  continued 
the  chronicle  to  the  year  642  (sections  43-90)  ;  finally,  a 
third  author  about  660  interpolated  several  sections.  This 
hypothesis  is  rejected  by  Schniirer,^  who  attributes  the  in- 
dependent chronicle  to  obscure  royal  secretaries  in  Bur- 
gundy and  the  rest  of  the  compilation  to  a  certain  Agrestius, 
a  friend  and  later  an  opponent  of  St.  Eustasius  of  Luxeuil. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  the  chronicle  of  the  pseudo-Frede-  / 
garius  has  value.  For  the  years  554  to  593,  it  supplements  ) 
Gregory  of  Tours;  from  the  end  of  593,  it  is  practically  our 

^  The  Paris  MS.,  the  oldest  and  most  complete,  dating  as  it  seems 
from  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century,  contains  (i)  the  Liber  gen- 
erationis  of  Saint  Hippolytus;  (2)  the  Chronicle  of  Saint  Jerome; 
(3)  the  Chronicle  of  Idatius  (378-468)  with  some  legendary  state- 
ments about  Theodoric,  Justinian,  etc. ;  (4)  the  abridgment  of  the 
first  six  books  of  the  Historia  Francorum  of  Gregory  of  Tours,  known 
as  the  Historia  epitoma;  (5)  an  original  chronicle  extending  from 
584  to  642,  but  containing  allusions  to  events  between  652  and  664; 
(6)  the  Chronicle  of  Isidore  of  Seville  from  176  to  628.  This  Paris 
MS.  was  published  by  G.  Monod  in  part  thirty-six  of  the  Bibliothdque 
de  I'ecole  pratique  des  hautes  etudes  (Paris,  1885).  B.  Krusch  pre- 
pared a  critical  edition  of  the  compilation  together  with  its  continua- 
tions in  Monumenta  Germaniae  historica,  Scriptores  rerum  Merovin- 
gicarum,  vol.  ii  (Hanover,  1888).  There  is  a  German  translation  by 
O.  Abel  in  the  Geschichtschreiber,  and  a  French  translation  by  M. 
Guizot,  revised  by  A.  Jacobs,  2  vols.  (Paris,  i860). 

2  The  Liber  generationis,  bearing  the  name  of  Saint  Hippolytus, 
schismatic  bishop  of  Rome  (222-235),  is  an  enumeration  of  names  in 
sacred  and  profane  history  and  in  geography  from  early  times  to  the 
reign  of  Alexander  Severus,  to  which  are  joined  slight  chronological 
data,  a  list  of  popes  to  Adrian  I  (772),  and  a  short  chronicle  to  the 
time  of  Heraclius  (610-641)  translated  from  the  Greek.  It  appears  as 
bk.  i  of  the  pseudo-Fredegarius  in  the  Krusch  edition. 

8  G,  Schniirer,  Die  V  erf  asset  des  sog.  Fredegar-Chronik  (Frei- 
burg-i-S.,  1900). 


194         SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [6oO 

only  source,  together  with  contemporary  biographies  of 
saints,  because  the  continuation  of  Marius  Aventicensis  ^ 
contains  only  very  brief  and  very  dry  notes,  and  the  Gesta 
regum  Francorum,  written  in  the  eighth  century,  has  for 
the  first  half  of  the  seventh  a  character  purely  legendary. 
The  pseudo-Fredegarius  is  good  on  Childebert  II  and  his 
son ;  in  those  passages  it  is  very  readable.  Two  whole  chap- 
ters from  Jonas's  life  of  Saint  Columban  are  transcribed. 
From  614  to  631,  the  story  is  more  vague  and  fragmentary, 
but  from  631  to  642,  we  have  an  ample  and  precise  narra- 
tive which  seems  to  come  from  an  eye-witness.  The  au- 
thor is  interested  chiefly  in  the  affairs  of  Austrasia  and 
Burgundy  and  shows  a  pronounced  hatred  of  Neustria;  he 
is  of  mediocre  intelligence,  writes  in  the  most  corrupt  Latin 
imaginable,  but  inspires  confidence  by  his  apparent  sincerity. 

The  chronicle  of  the  pseudo-Fredegarius  was  continued 
to  the  year  768,  probably  by  three  different  authors.  The 
first,  who  lived  in  Austrasia  and  was  a  staunch  supporter  of 
Pippin's  family,  carried  the  work  to  736.  The  second,  who 
gave  us  the  history  of  the  years  737  to  751,  wrote  by  order 
of  Count  Childebrand,  an  uncle  of  King  Pippin.  The  third 
continuator,  author  of  the  narrative  from  752  to  768,  be- 
longed to  the  house  of  Count  Nibelung,  son  of  Childe- 
brand. Thus  the  anonymous  continuations  of  the  pseudo- 
Fredegarius  have  the  advantages  and  the  defects  of  official 
writings:  the  authors  were  in  an  excellent  position  to  be 
well-informed,  but  their  testimony  was  bound  to  be  partisan 
and  biased. 

The  compilation  attributed  to  Fredegarius  and  its  con- 
tinuations are  most  useful  for  Austrasian  affairs;  the  cor- 
responding Neustrian  authority  is  the  Gesta  regum  Fran- 

1  See  supra,  p.  150. 


6oi]  SOURCES  FROM  JUSTINIAN  TO  PIPPIN  195 

corum,^  written  about  725  by  a  monk  of  Rouen  or  of  Paris. 
The  Gesta  include  an  abridgment  of  books  II-VI  of  Gre- 
gory of  Tours,  and  an  independent  history  of  the  years 
642  to  700.  The  work  was  taken  into  Austrasia  very  soon 
after  its  composition,  and  another  anonymous  writer  there 
completed  it  by  adding  some  notes  from  Gregory  of  Tours  ^ 
and  Isidore  of  Seville ;  it  thus  supplied  the  elements  for  the 
first  continuation  of  the  pseudo-Fredegarius.  The  Latin 
is  slightly  better  than  that  of  pseudo-Fredegarius,  but  the 
author  had  practically  no  sources  at  his  disposal  and  his 
narrative,  filled  with  prejudice  and  preposterous  legends, 
is  quite  worthless  for  the  period  with  which  its  writer  is 
not  a  contemporary.  It  is  in  the  Gesta  regum  Francorum 
that  the  legend  of  the  Trojan  origin  of  the  Franks  received 
its  final  development;  barely  outlined  by  pseudo-Frede- 
garius, it  thenceforth  served  as  a  model  for  many  other 
fanciful  reconstructions  of  antiquity  by  mediaeval  chron- 
iclers. 

The  facts  in  the  biography  of  Paul  the  Deacon  are  taken 
from  his  works.  *  He  was  a  Lombard,  called  Paulus  Warne- 

1  Or  Liber  historiae  Francorum.  Edited  by  B.  Krusch  in  Monit- 
menta  Germaniae  historica,  Scriptores  return  Merovingicarum,  vol.  ii 
(Hanover,  1888).  See  G.  Kurth,  "Etude  critique  sur  le  Gesta  regum 
Francorum "  in  Bulletin  de  I'acadimie  royale  de  Belgique,  series  iii, 
vol.  xviii   (1889). 

2  The  whole  work  sometimes  passes  under  Gregory's  name. 

'  The  works  of  Paul  the  Deacon  are  edited  in  the  Monumenta  Ger- 
maniae historica:  the  Historia  Langobardorum  by  Bethmann  and 
Waitz  in  Scriptores  rer.  Langob.  et  Ital.  (Hanover,  1878)  and  also  in 
the  octavo;  the  review  of  Eutropius,  or  Historia  miscella,  by  Droysen 
in  Auctores  Antiquissimi,  vol.  ii,  pp.  227-374;  the  Gesta  episcoporum 
Mettensium  by  Pertz  in  Scriptores,  vol.  ii,  pp.  260-268;  and  the  Letters 
by  Diimmler  in  Epistolae,  vol.  iv,  pp.  505-516.  There  is  an  English 
translation  of  the  Historia  Langobardorum  by  W.  D.  Foulke,  published 
by  the  Department  of  History  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
(Philadelphia,  1907).     There  is  also  a  German  translation  of  part  of 


196  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS  [6o2 

fridus,  and  was  born  about  720.  He  received  a  fair  edu- 
cation, knew  Greek,  and  lived  at  court.  He  wrote  a  poem 
in  763  on  the  six  ages  of  the  world,  the  verses  of  which 
form  an  acrostic  on  the  name  of  Adelperga  Pia,  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  Lombard  king,  Desiderius.  It  was  for  her,  also, 
that  Paul  enlarged  and  continued  the  Roman  history  of 
Eutropius.  He  probably  entered  the  cloister  of  Monte- 
cassino  after  the  fall  of  the  Lombard  kingdom.  He  later 
crossed  the  Alps  to  seek  assurance  from  Charlemagne  of 
his  brother's  safety.  There  he  was  honorably  received, 
and  gave  instruction  in  Greek  besides  writing  several  homi- 
lies and  his  history  of  the  bishopric  of  Metz.  He  wrote 
subsequently  at  Montecassino  a  commentary  on  the  rule  of 
Saint  Benedict  and  his  famous  History  of  the  Lombards. 
The  last  named  is  the  standard  authority  for  Lombard  af- 
fairs. The  sources  which  he  used  were  the  Origo  Lango- 
bardorum,  the  histories  of  Secundus  of  Trent,  Gregory  of 
Tours,  and  the  Venerable  Bede,  the  writings  of  Gregory 
the  Great,  and  various  episcopal  lives.  In  spite  of  the  gen- 
eral clarity  and  manifest  sincerity  of  the  work,  it  is  ob- 
viously uncritical.  Paul  is  unable  to  separate  fact  from 
fiction,  history  from  legend,  and  his  account  of  earlier 
times  is  very  unreliable. 

Paul  the  Deacon  has  great  respect  for  the  legendary 
past  of  the  Lombards.  He  discovers  and  dwells  on  the 
"  good  old  times :  " 

But  when  the  Lombards  had  been  for  ten  years  under  the 
power  of  their  dukes,  at  length  by  common  consent  they  ap- 
pointed to  themselves  as  king,  Anthari,  the  son  of  the  above- 
Paul's  works  in  the  Geschichtschreiber.  The  critical  studies  of  Paul 
the  Deacon  by  Bethmann,  Dahn,  Mommsen,  etc.,  are  analyzed  by 
W.  Wattenbach,  Deutschlands  Geschichtsquellen  im  Mittelalter,  6th  ed. 
(Berlin,  1893). 


603]  SOURCES  FROM  JUSTINIAN  TO  PIPPIN  197 

mentioned  Cleph.  On  account  of  his  dignity  they  called  him 
Flavius,  a  forename  which  all  the  succeeding  Lombards  used 
auspiciously.  In  his  day,  on  account  of  the  restoration  of 
the  kingdom,  the  then  ruling  dukes  contributed  half  of  all 
their  possessions  to  the  royal  exchequer  that  there  might  be  a 
fund  for  the  maintenance  of  the  king  himself,  and  of  those 
who  were  attached  to  him  by  the  liability  to  perform  the 
various  offices  of  his  household.  The  subject  populations  who 
had  been  assigned  to  their  several  Lombard  guests  were  also 
included.  In  truth  this  was  a  marvelous  fact  in  the  kingdom 
of  the  Lombards :  there  was  no  evidence,  no  plots  were  de- 
vised, no  one  oppressed  another  by  unjust  exactions,  none 
despoiled  his  neighbor ;  there  were  no  thefts,  no  robberies  with 
violence ;  every  man  went  about  his  business  as  he  pleased,  in 
fearless  security.^ 

One  other  quotation  may  illustrate  Paul's  history.  It  is 
his  interesting  mention  of  the  celebrated  legal  code  of  King 
Rothari : 

The  kingship  of  the  Lombards  was  assumed  by  Rothari,  by 
birth  an  arodtis.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  character  and  one 
who  followed  the  path  of  justice,  though  he  adhered  not  to 
the  orthodox  Christian  faith,  being  stained  by  the  infidelity  of 
the  Arian  heresy.  For  in  truth  the  Arians  assert  to  their  own 
great  harm  and  loss  that  the  Son  is  inferior  to  the  Father  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  inferior  to  the  Father  and  the  Son;  but  we 
Catholics  confess  the  Father  and  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
to  be  one  true  God  in  three  persons  with  equal  power  and  the 
same  glory.  At  that  time  in  almost  all  the  cities  of  the  realm 
there  were  two  bishops,  one  a  Catholic,  and  the  other  an 
Arian.  In  the  city  of  Pavia  the  place  is  still  shown  where  the 
Arian  bishop  had  his  baptistery,  residing  near  the  basilica  of 
St.  Eusebius,  while  another  bishop  resided  at  the  Catholic 
Church.     However,  the  Arian  bishop  who  was  in  that  city, 

1  Bk.  iii,  ch.  16. 


198         SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [604 

Anastasius  by  name,  being  converted  to  the  Catholic  faith, 
afterwards  ruled  the  Church  of  Christ.  This  King  Rothari 
arranged  in  a  series  of  writings  the  laws  of  the  Lombards, 
which  they  were  retaining  only  in  memory  and  by  custom, 
and  ordered  that  the  code  should  be  called  an  Edict.  But  it 
was  now  the  seventy-seventh  year  since  the  Lombards  had 
come  into  Italy  [really  the  seventy-sixth],  as  the  same  king 
has  testified  in  the  prologue  to  his  Edict. ^ 

1  Bk.  iv,  ch.  42.     From  T.  Hodgkin,  Italy  and  her  Invaders,  vol.  v, 
pp.  232,  233,  and  vol.  vi,  pp.  167,  168. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
Documentary  Sources 

The  sources  so  far  treated  have  been  unofficial  personal 
narratives.  Such  sources  would  nowadays  be  deemed  in- 
adequate. They  would  be  considered  as  only  of  secondary 
value,  compared  with  contemporary  documents  which  would 
officially  state  accomplished  facts.  Their  statements,  in 
short,  would  be  tested  and  interpreted  by  official  documents. 

The  main  documentary  sources  relating  to  the  Germanic 
invasions  are  legal.  They  are  contained  in  the  bulk  of  both 
the  civil  and  the  canon  law  which  has  come  down  to  us  from 
the  centuries  under  review.  There  are  several  reasons,  how- 
ever, why  the  official  testimony  of  state  or  church  has  not 
played  so  conspicuous  a  part  in  the  histories  of  that  period 
as  corresponding  legal  documents  would  do  today.  In  the 
first  place,  the  documentary  sources  of  the  Roman  empire 
have  been  studied  chiefly  by  lawyers  or  by  historians  of  law. 
rather  than  by  students  of  the  Germanic  invasions.  In 
the  second  place,  this  kind  of  source  was  not  so  well  re- 
corded or  so  diligently  preserved  in  ancient  times  as  it  is 
now ;  legal  literature  of  any  age  is  not  apt  to  be  popular 
literature  in  style  or  subject-matter,  —  it  is  not  found  in 
many  private  libraries;  and  in  Roman  days  there  were  no 
printing-presses  and  no  public-spirited  representatives  of 
the  people  to  distribute  stout  volumes  of  statutes  and  gov- 
ernmental reports  to  their  agricultural  constituents.  And 
finally,  the  ancient  legal  sources  which  have  survived,  af- 
ford the  greatest  difficulties  of  interpretation,  for  they  are 
605]  199 


200  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [606 

burdened  with  technical  words  and  phrases,  padded  in  many- 
instances  with  bland  piety  and  platitudes,  and  they  often 
stand  alone,  without  commentary  or  explanation  of  any- 
kind,  monuments  to  us  of  mystery  and  doubt. 

The  proper  treatment  of  the  documentary  sources  relat- 
ing to  the  Germanic  invasions  would  require  an  elaborate, 
special  study,  which  is  beyond  the  purpose  of  the  present 
work ;  we  shall  here  content  ourselves  with  furnishing  a  bald 
outline  of  the  principal  groups  of  the  law,  passing  in  review 
the  imperial  law  and  its  adaptations  by  the  Germans,  the 
barbarian  codes,  and  finally  the  canon  law. 

Roman  law  of  the  empire  ^  was  naturally  of  two  kinds : 
the  edicts  and  rescripts  of  the  supreme  legislators,  or  "  statu- 
tory law;"  and  the  opinions  of  famous  jurists  on  those  acts, 
or  "  common  law."  The  issuance  of  laws  was  coetaneous 
with  the  commonwealth.  And  the  most  celebrated  juris- 
consults— Salvius  Julianus  and  Pomponius  and  Gains  and 
Papinian,  the  prince  of  them  all,  and  Paulus  and  Ulpian  and 
Modestinus  —  lived  during  the  first  three  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era.  The  Comitia  had  been  deemed  unfit  for  the 
work  of  legislation  by  the  time  of  Tiberius,  and  by  the  time 
of  Diocletian  (284-305),  the  senate  had  lost  its  functions 
of  law-making.  Thus  the  emperor  had  eventually  be- 
come supreme  legislator.  Under  Diocletian  was  com- 
piled perhaps  the  first  important  code  of  the  enact- 
ments then  in  force.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  private  ven- 
ture on  the  part  of  a  certain  Gregorius  or  Gregorianus 
and  to  have  embraced  various  imperial  constitutions  from 

^  Among  the  guides  to  the  Roman  law,  see  J.  Muirhead,  Law 
of  Rome,  2nd  ed.  (London,  1899)  ;  P.  F.  Girard,  Manuel  elementaire 
de  droit  romain,  3rd  ed.  (Paris,  1901),  trans,  in  part  as  Short  History 
of  Roman  Law  by  A.  H.  F.  Lefroy  and  J.  H.  Cameron  (Toronto, 
1906)  ;  and  M.  Conrat,  Geschichte  der  Quellen  und  Literatur  des  rom- 
ischen  Rechts  im  friiheren  Mittelalter  (Leipzig,  1891). 


6o7]  DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES  20I 

Hadrian  to  the  year  294,  divided  probably  into  fifteen  or  ] 
sixteen  books  and  each  book  into  titles.  This  Codex  Gre- 
gorianus  was  supplemented  in  the  fourth  century  by  a  simi- 
lar collection  of  a  certain  Hermogenianus  or  Hermogenes, 
which  covered  by  three  different  editions,  the  years  291  to 
365.  Of  these  two  compilations,  only  fragments  in  later 
codes  are  extant.^ 

The  relation  of  jurisprudence  to  the  statutory  law  was 
finally    determined    by    the   "  I^aw    of    Citations,"  ^    which      ^ 
Valentinian  III  promulgated  in  426 : 

We  accord  our  approval  to  all  the  writings  of  Papinian,  Paul, 
Gaius,  Ulpian,  and  Modestinus,  conceding  to  Gaius  the  same 
authority  that  is  enjoyed  by  Paul,  Ulpian,  and  the  rest,  anfl 
sanctioning  the  citation  of  all  his  works.  We  ratify  also  the 
opinions  (scientiam)  of  those  earlier  writers  whose  treatises 
and  statements  of  the  law  any  of  the  aforesaid  five  have  made 
use  of  in  their  own  works, — Scaevola,  for  example,  and 
Sabinus,  and  Julian,  and  Marcellus, — and  of  all  others  whom 
they  have  been  in  the  habit  of  quoting  as  authoritative;  pro- 
vided always,  as  their  antiquity  makes  them  uncertain,  that  the 
texts  of  those  earlier  jurists  are  verified  by  collation  of  manu- 

iThere  are  excerpts  in  the  Lex  Romana  Fisigothorum  (see  infra)  ; 
in  the  Collatio  legum  Mosaicarum  et  Rotnanorum,  a  long  fragment  of 
the  first  book  of  a  work  in  which  a  Christian  author  about  the  end  of 
the  fourth  century  endeavored  to  harmonize  the  laws  of  Moses  and  of 
the  Romans;  in  the  Vatican  fragments  of  a  practice  book  which  Car- 
dinal Angelo  Mai  discovered  in  1820;  and  in  the  Consultatio  veieris 
cuiusdam  iurisconsulti,  part  of  a  collection  of  answers  upon  questions 
of  law  submitted  for  opinion  of  counsel.  Many  laws  in  the  code  of  *'-, 
Justinian  were  probably  taken  from  the  Gregorian  and  Hermogenian  ■> 
without  acknowledgment.  The  extant  fragments  were  edited  by  G. 
Haenel,  Corpus  iuris  Roniani  anteiustiniani  (Bonn,  1837).  The  best 
text  is  now  that  of  Kriiger,  Mommsen,  and  Stundemund,  Collectio 
librorum  iuris  anteiustiniani,  vol.  iii  (Berlin,  1890).  Fragfments  of 
juristic  writings  before  Hadrian  are  edited  in  the  Teubner  texts  hy 
F.  P.  Bremer,  3  vols.  (Leipzig,  1896-1901). 

2  In  Theodosian  Code,  i,  4,  3. 


202  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [608 

scripts.  If  divergent  dicta  be  adduced,  that  party  shall  prevail 
who  has  the  greatest  number  of  authorities  on  his  side ;  if  the 
number  on  each  side  be  the  same,  that  one  shall  prevail  which 
has  the  support  of  Papinian;  but  while  he,  most  excellent  of 
them  all,  is  to  be  preferred  to  any  other  single  authority,  he 
must  yield  to  any  two.  Paul's  and  Ulpian's  notes  on  his  writ- 
ings, however,  as  already  enacted,  are  to  be  disregarded.  Where 
opinions  are  equal  and  none  entitled  to  preference,  we  leave  it 
to  the  discretion  of  the  judge  which  he  shall  adopt.  We  also 
order  that  Paul's  sentences  shall  always  be  held  authoritative. 

Three  years  after  the  publication  of  the  "  Law  of  Cita- 
tions," Theodosius  II  appointed  a  commission  of  nine  mem- 
bers to  supervise  a  complete  and  official  codification  of  the 
law,  but  for  some  unknown  reason  the  work  was  not  ac- 
complished by  them.  A  new  committee  of  sixteen  mem- 
bers, which  was  named  in  435,  was  not  more  successful  with 
the  codification  of  the  opinions  of  the  jurists,  but  their 
statutory  code  was  ratified  and  published  in  438  by  Theo- 
dosius II  and  Valentinian  III  : 

The  felicity  of  the  eternal  emperors  proceeds  so  far  as  to 
adorn  with  the  ornaments  of  peace  those  whom  it  defends  by 
warfare.  Last  year  when  we  loyally  attended  the  celebration 
of  the  most  fortunate  of  all  ceremonies  and  when  the  marriage 
[between  Valentinian  and  Eudoxia]  had  been  happily  con- 
cluded, the  most  sacred  prince,  our  lord  Theodosius,  was  fain 
to  add  this  dignity  also  to  his  world,  and  ordered  the  precepts 
of  the  law  to  be  collected  and  drawn  up  in  a  compendious  form 
of  sixteen  books,  which  he  wished  to  be  consecrated  by  his 
most  sacred  name.  Which  thing  the  eternal  prince,  our  lord 
Valentinian,  approved  with  the  loyalty  of  a  colleague  and  the 
aflFection  of  a  son. 

Each  of  the  sixteen  books  of  this  Theodosian   Code  ^   is 

iThe  edition  of  J.  Godefroy  (ed.  Ritter,  7  vols.,  folio,  I736-I745). 
imperfect  as  to  text,  is  still  useful  by  reason  of  the  valuable  commen- 
tary. The  standard  text  is  now  that  of  T.  Mommsen  and  P.  M.  Meyer 
(Berlin,  1905). 


6o9]  DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES  203 

divided  into  titles,  and  each  title  presents  the  imperial  con- 
stitutions in  chronological  order.  The  first  five  books, 
which  were  known  up  to  the  nineteenth  century  only  by  ex- 
tracts in  the  Lex  Romanu  Visigothorum,^  contain  the  pri- 
vate law ;  books  six  to  eight,  the  new  law  on  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  state ;  the  ninth  book,  criminal  law ;  the  tenth 
and  eleventh,  fiscal  law;  the  twelfth  to  fifteenth  inclusive, 
treat  of  the  organization  and  administration  of  communi- 
ties; and  the  sixteenth,  of  the  Catholic  faith  and  the  uni- 
versal church. 

Imperial  edicts  subsequent  to  the  promulgation  of  the  < 
Theodosian  Code  were  called  "  novels  "  (Novcllae  leges  or 
constitution's) .     They  were  issued  by  various  emperors, —    / 
Theodosius  II,   Marcian,   Leo.   Anthimus,   Maximus,   Ma-  * 
jorian,  Severus.  and  others. " 

Justinian  resolved  on  his  accession  to  power   (527)   to 
carry  out  fully  what  Theodosius  II  had  originally  planned 
and  to  codify  not  only  all  the  imperial  enactments    (leges) 
but  also  the  scattered  legal  opinions  and  official  decisions  of 
binding  force  (ius).     He  at  once  appointed  a  commission,   — 
of  which  the  chief  member  was  the  celebrated  Tribonian.  \ 
Work  was  begun  with  the  leges  in  528,  and  in  529  the  Code    1 
was  completed.     The  task  was  more  difficult  in  the  case  of 
the  ius.  and  Justinian  had  to  bridge  gaps  and  settle  many 
disputes    before    a    harmonious    digest    of    legal    decisions 
could  be   arranged.''     The  Digesta,   or   Pandects,   as   they 

^  See  infra.  The  first  five  books  of  the  Theodosian  Code  are  still 
incomplete. 

-  The  extant  Novellae  issued  after  the  code  of  Theodosius  and  prior 
to  that  of  Justinian  are  to  be  found  in  the  latter  or  in  the  Lex  Romano 
Visigothorutn  or  in  separate  manuscripts.  They  have  been  collected 
and  published  as  an  appendix  to  the  edition  of  the  Theodosian  Code 
of  G.  Haenel  (Bonn,  1842). 

3  These  decisions  of  Justinian  were  handed  down  between  529  and     i 
532,   and   are   usually   called   the   Quinquaginta   Decisiones.     "  Nostras       *>> 
constitutiones,  per  quas,  suggerente  nobis  Triboniano,  .  .  .  antiqui  iuris 
altercationes  placavimus  "   (Institutes,  i,  5,  3). 


4r 


x> 


204  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [610 

are  often  called,  were  at  length  finished  toward  the  close 
.    c>f  533  and  went  into  force  the  following  year,  along  with 
^^  a   second   revised   edition   of   the   Code/   which   had   been 
issued  in  order  to  bring  it  into  accord  with  Justinian's  re- 
cent decisions  incorporated  in  the  Digest. 

The  Code  and  the  Digest,  together  with  the  later  supple- 
mentary edicts  of  Justinian — the  Novels — and  the  admir- 
able introductory  text-books — the  Institutes — comprise  the 
Corpus  iuris  civilis,^  or  bulk  of  Roman  civil  law  which  has 
come  down  to  us  and  which  can  be  of  interest  in  our  present 
study.  The  Novels,  of  which  about  one  hundred  and 
seventy  are  extant,  were  probably  never  collected  officially; 
they  are  mainly  in  Greek ;  the  greater  number  relate  to  pub- 
lic and  ecclesiastical  affairs,  and  some  of  them  are  as  long 
as  a  modern  act  of  parliament.  The  Digest  is  divided  into 
fifty  books,  treating  of  subjects  roughly  in  the  order  of  the 
Code,  and  all  divided  into  several  titles,  except  books  30-32 ; 
the  titles,  supplied  with  rubrics,  are  subdivided  into  state- 
ments of  law  or  excerpts  from  the  jurisconsults  adapted  to 
changed  times  and  conditions. 
;'  The  Code  is  the  most  important  part  of  the  Corpus  as  a 
"]  source  relating  to  the  Germans.  It  consists  of  twelve  books 
divided  into  titles,  each  with  a  rubric.  Under  each  title 
are  grouped  in  chronological  order  the  edicts  or  con- 
stitutions from  Hadrian  to  the  year  534,  but  with  many  sup- 

1  This  second  revised  edition  of  the  Code  is  the  only  one  that  has 
come  down  to  us. 

2  The  best  edition  is  that  published  at  Berlin,  3  vols.  (1877-1899)  : 
vol.  i  contains  the  Institutiones,  ed.  by  P.  Kriiger,  and  the  Digesta,  ed. 
by  T.  Mommsen ;  vol.  ii  consists  of  the  Codex,  ed.  by  P.  Kriiger ;  and 
vol.  iii,  the  Novellae,  ed.  by  R.  Schoell  and  W.  Kroll.  There  is  a  Ger- 
man translation  of  the  entire  Corpus  by  K.  E.  Otto,  B.  Schilling,  and 
K.  F.  F.  Sintenis,  7  vols.  (Leipzig,  183 1-9)  ;  and  an  English  transla- 
tion of  the  Digesta  by  C.  H.  Monro  (vol.  i,  Cambridge,  1904),  and  of 
the  Institutiones  by  J.  B.  Moyle  (Oxford,  1883). 


6ii]  DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES  205 

pressions  and  amendments  intended  to  bring  them  up  to 
date.  Most  of  the  laws  of  the  Theodosian  Code  were  in- 
corporated into  the  code  of  Justinian,  and  the  sixteenth  book  ) 
of  the  former — on  the  CathoHc  church — ^became  the  first  of  \ 
the  latter,  so  that  Justinian's  compilation  opens  most  im-  I 
pressively  with  definitions  of  dogma  and  penalties  for 
heresy.  Of  the  whole  mass  of  statutes  in  the  Code,  twenty- 
three  are  prior  to  Septimius  Severus;  nearly  two  hundred 
were  issued  by  him  and  Caracalla  jointly ;  two  hundred  and 
fifty  by  Caracalla  alone;  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  by 
Alexander  Severus ;  over  two  hundred  and  seventy  by  Gor- 
dian  III ;  over  twelve  hundred  by  Diocletian  and  Maximian 
jointly;  two  hundred  by  Constantine;  about  the  same  num- 
ber jointly  by  Valentinian  II,  Theodosius  the  Great  and 
Arcadius ;  nearly  one  hundred  and  seventy  by  Valentinian 
II  alone ;  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  by  Arcadius ;  about 
one  hundred  and  ninety  by  Theodosius  II ;  and  nearly  four 
hundred  by  Justinian  himself. 

These  codes,  whether  the  Theodosian  or  that  of  Justinian, 
may  be  viewed  in  two  different  ways  as  sources  relating  to 
the  Germans.  They  may  be  considered  either  as  an  official 
kaleidoscopic  picture  of  the  shifting  imperial  fortunes  in- 
cident to  the  immigration  and  invasions,  ^Q£  as  a  mine  of 
specific  facts  about  the  Germans,  their  rights  and  duties  and 
relations  with  other  peoples.  In  spite  of  the  high-sounding, 
pompous  style  and  the  difficulty  of  interpreting  the  laws, 
they  often  offer  suggestions  of  an  attitude  toward  the  Ger- 
manic invasions  which  cannot  be  so  well  secured  elsewhere. 
Thus  a  law  of  409  reads : 

We  have  subjected  to  our  empire  the  barbarian  nation  of  the 
Scyri,  now  that  the  Huns  with  whom  they  were  allied  have 
been  overwhelmed.  Wherefore,  we  permit  landed  proprietors  to 
take  men  of  this  nation  in  order  to  increase  the  number  of 


2o6  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [612 

laborers  on  their  estates,  provided  that  such -men  shall  not  be 
denied  any  of  the  rights  whi.ch  pertain  to  coloni.  It  shall  not 
be  permitted  to  take  anyone  of  them  from  the  estate  to  which 
he  shall  have  been  attached  or  to  entice  such  a  one  away,  on 
pain  of  punishment ;  let  every  fugitive  be  pursued  and  returned 
to  his  master.  They  shall  work,  moreover,  as  freemen  under 
order  and  to  the  profit  of  the  proprietor,  but  it  is  not  permitted 
to  condemn  them  to  slavery  or  sell  them     .     .     } 

/  Imperial  laws  afiford  us  nearly  all  the  clews  we  have  to 
the  condition  of  German  soldiers  in  the  imperial  armies. 
They  seem  to  distinguish  two  classes :  ^  the  foederati,  a 
body  of  troops  who  served  voluntarily  or  by  contract,  and 
the  de^diticii  or  laeti,  who  had  been  taken  by  force  and  were 
considered  of  inferior  condition.  The  former  usually  re- 
ceived pay  in  money  or  in  kind,  while  the  latter  received 
lands  to  cultivate  and  their  military  service  was  normally 
hereditary.^ 

The  laws  are  particularly  concerned  with  military  affairs, 
and  there  are  several  defensive  measures  against  warring 
barbarians,*-  In  this  connection  may  be  mentioned  one  of 
the  Novels  of  Valentinian  III  (440)  which  announces  the 
departure  of  "  Genseric's  by  no  means  small  fleet  from 
Carthage  and  its  sudden  coming  and  threatened  plunder- 
ing all  along  the  shore,"  and  states  at  the  same  time  that 
"  the  army  of  our  father,  the  unconquered  Theodosius  [II], 
is   drawing   nigh ;"    that    "  we  believe   the   most   excellent 

1  Theodosian  Code,  v,  6,  3.  The  victory  over  the  Scyri  is  mentioned 
by  Zosimus  (iv,  34)  ;  and  Sozomen,  speaking  of  their  fate,  adds :  "  1 
have  seen  many  of  them  in  Bithynia,  living  scattered  over  estates  and 
tilling  the  hills  and  dales"  (ix,  5). 

'2  Theodosian  Code,  vii,  13,  16. 

>  Ibid.,  vii,  20,  12. 

*  Ibid.,  vii,  I,  i;  xii,  i,  177;  xv,  i,  51;  etc. 


613]  DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES  207 

patrician  Aetius  to  be  near  at  hand  with  a  large  force;"  and 
that  "  the  most  illustrious  master  of  the  soldiery,  Sigisvuld, 
is  active  in  arraying  both  milites  and  foederati  for  the  de- 
fense of  the  cities  and  the  coasts." 

Among  the  laws  are  such  widely  different  references  to 
the  barbarians  as  the  fate  of  Stilicho ;  ^  the  prohibition,  un- 
der penalty  of  forfeiture  and  perpetual  banishment,  of  the 
assumption  of  Gothic  clothing  within  the  city  of  Rome;' 
and  marriage  relations  between  Romans  and  Germans."^ 
T|iese  are  but  few  and  paltry  evidences  of  the  possibilities 
of  a  special  study  of  the  great  Roman  codes. 

The  code  of  Justinian  was  never  widely  used  in  the  west- 
em  provinces  of  the  empire.  During  the  century  which 
separated  his  work  from  that  of  Theodosius  II,  Germans 
had  settled  extensively,  and  in  most  cases  permanently,  in 
the  west.  The  various  tribes  had  brought  with  them 
from  their  old  homes  across  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube  their 
own  customary  law,  and  in  their  new  homes  they  found  in 
force   the   elaborate   provisions    of   the    Theodosian    code. 

1  Theodosian  Code,  ix,  42,  21-22. 

2  Ibid.,  xiv,  10,  1-4. 

8  A  law  of  the  year  370  (Theodosian  Code,  iii,  14,  i)  forbade  mar- 
riage between  provinciates  and  gentiles.  It  used  to  be  supposed  that 
this  law  aimed  to  prevent  the  union  of  Romins  and  Germans,  but 
Fustel  de  Coulanges  has  made  some  clever  explanations  to  the  con- 
trary. After  calling  attention  to  a  large  number  of  marriages  which 
did  take  place,  according  to  the  narrative  sources,  between  Germans 
and  Romans,  he  sums  up  his  contention :  "  The  law  of  370  was  only 
the  application  of  the  old  principle  which  invalidated  marriage  between 
persons  of  different  civil  status ;  it  had  no  bearing  on  racial  differ- 
ences. Now  a  German  could  become  a  Roman  citizen ;  he  could  cer- 
tainly, if  he  had  served  in  the  armies  of  Rome,  obtain  at  the  end  of 
a  certain  time  a  kind  of  partial  citizenship  which  would  assure  him  the 
rights  of  connubium  and  also  of  commerciutn  ..."  {L'invasion  gcr- 
manique  et  la  Hn  de  I'empire,  pp.  399-400,  note). 


2o8  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [614 

The  unlettered  sons  of  the  northern  forests  must  have  been 
greatly  impressed  by  the  solemn  majesty  of  Roman  law,  its 
codes  and  digests,  its  edicts  and  rescripts  and  titles  and 
rubrics  and  opinions  of  Papinian,  its  order  and  pomposity. 
Perhaps  they  admired  Roman  law  because  it  was  too  com- 
plicated for  their  comprehension  and  too  elaborate  for  their 
operation.  At  any  rate,  the  chieftains  or  clergy  of  several  dif- 
ferent tribes  worked  over  the  Theodosian  Code  very  soon 
after  their  settlement,  and  simplified  and  adapted  its  provis- 
ions to  the  needs  of  their  people.^  And  under  the  same  in- 
fluence, if  not  from  the  same  motives,  the  barbarians  gradu- 
ally committed  to  writing  their  own  customary  law,  in  bar- 
barous Latin,  it  is  true,  but  they  could  hardly  be  expected  to 
evolve  expressions  with  grace  and  elegance.  It  is  really 
impossible  to  estimate  to  what  extent  within  a  given  "  king- 
dom "  the  barbarian  adaptations  of  Roman  law  were  used, 
and  to  what  extent  the  tribal  law.  It  is  probable  from  na- 
tural and  obvious  deductions,  although  hypothetical,  that 
versions  of  Roman  law  survived  for  the  old-time  Roman 
citizens  and  their  descendants  while  the  barbarians  them- 
selves observed  their  customary  law. 

The  earliest  revision  of  Roman  law  with  a  view  to  changed 
conditions  in  the  west,  of  which  we  know,  is  the  Edictum 
of  Theodoric,  king  of  the  Ostrogoths.  It  was  prepared, 
perhaps  by  Cassiodorus,  about  the  year  500  and  was  based 
on  previous  codes  and  "  novels  "  and  on  the  writings  of 
the  jurists,  especially  the  Sentences  of  Paul.  It  contained 
one  hundred  and  fifty-four  articles  arranged  at  random  and 
touching  all  branches  of  law.  particularly  criminal  law  and 

1  In  addition  to  the  adaptations  of  the  Ostrogoths,  Visigoths,  and 
Burgundians,  mentioned  below,  see  the  Lex  Romana  Raetica  Curiensis, 
edited  by  K.  Zeumer  in  Monumenta  Germaniae  historica.  Leges,  vol. 
V  (Hanover,  1889). 


6i5]  DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES  209 

procedure.     That  it  was  intended  for  all  of  Theodoric's 
subjects,  we  gather  from  the  epilogue: 

These  things,  as  far  as  our  occupations  would  allow  of  our 
attending  to  them,  or  as  they  occurred  at  the  moment  to  our 
mind,  we  have  ordered  for  the  common  benefit  of  all,  whether 
barbarians  or  Romans,  and  do  desire  that  the  devotion  of  all, 
whether  barbarians  or  Romans,  will  keep  them  inviolate.  Those 
cases  which  either  the  brevity  of  the  Edictum  or  our  public 
cares  have  not  allowed  us  to  comprehend  in  the  foregoing,  must 
be  terminated  when  they  arise,  by  the  regular  course  of  the 
laws.  Nor  let  any  person,  of  whatsoever  dignity  or  wealth  or 
power  or  military  rank  or  honor  he  may  be,  think  that  he  may 
in  any  manner  infringe  any  one  of  these  provisions,  which  we 
have  collected  chiefly  out  of  the  Novellae  and  the  sanctions  of 
the  old  law.  And  let  all  commissioners  (cognitores)  and  all 
framers  of  decisions  know  that  if  in  anything  they  shall  violate 
these  edicts,  they  will  be  deservedly  struck  with  the  penalty 
of  proscription  and  banishment.  But  if  perchance  any  in- 
fluential personage  or  his  procurator  or  agent  or  any  farmer  of 
the  revenue,  whether  he  be  a  barbarian  or  a  Roman,  shall  in  any 
manner  of  cause  not  allow  these  edicts  to  be  observed,  and  if 
the  judge  who  is  trying  the  case  shall  not  be  able  to  hinder  and 
block  them,  nor  to  vindicate  the  law  as  here  laid  down,  if  he 
has  any  care  for  his  own  safety  let  him  lay  aside  every  sugges- 
tion of  timidity  and  at  once  bring  before  our  notice  a  full  report 
of  the  whole  case.  Only  in  this  way  will  he  himself  be  ab- 
solved from  blame:  inasmuch  as  the  provisions  made  for  the 
security  of  all  the  provincials  ought  to  be  carefully  guarded  by 
the  zeal  of  the  whole  community.^ 

This   is   confirmed   by   a   passage   from   the    Variae   of 
Cassiodorus : 

By  God's  help,  knowing  that  the  Goths  live  side  by  side  with 
^  From  T.  Hodgkin,  Italy  and  her  Invaders,  Tol.  iii,  p.  311. 


2IO  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [6i6 

the  Italians,  we  have  judged  it  necessary  in  order  to  avoid 
possible  disorders  among  peoples  who  have  mutual  interests,  to 
appoint  as  count  for  you  this  person  whose  good  character  is 
known  to  us  and  who,  conformably  to  our  edicts,  is  to  decide 
every  suit  between  two  Goths.  If  any  suit  is  brought  between 
a  Goth  and  a  Roman,  he  will  be  joined  by  a  Roman  legal  expert 
in  order  to  decide  the  case  justly.  A  dispute  involving  two 
Romans  will  be  taken  before  the  Roman  judges  whom  we  have 
appointed  in  the  provinces. 

Thus  everyone  will  observe  his  own  laws,  and  despite  the 
diversity  of  judges,  there  will  be  the  same  justice  for  every  one. 
Thus  with  God's  assistance,  both  nations  will  enjoy  the  ad- 
vantage of  security.  Know  ye  that  we  have  an  equal  good  will 
for  all,  and  those  will  recommend  themselves  more  particularly 
to  our  affection  who  are  careful  to  observe  the  laws. 

We  hate  all  disorder ;  high  crimes  we  deplore  together  with 
their  authors.  Our  piety  detests  violence.  It  is  not  might  but 
right  which  should  decide  disputes.  Why  use  force  when  you 
have  courts?  We  give  salaries  to  judges  and  our  treasury  sup- 
ports so  many  offices  not  in  order  to  multiply  suits  which  will 
engender  hatred  between  our  subjects,  for,  submitted  to  the 
same  power,  all  must  be  united  in  affection.  We  appeal  to 
both  peoples  whom  we  love  equally.  The  Goths,  whose  prop- 
CTty  adjoins  that  of  the  Romans,  should  be  united  to  them  by 
good  will;  the  Romans  should  have  great  love  for  the  Goths, 
who,  in  time  of  peace,  gain  for  their  benefit  a  marked  increase 
in  population,  and  who,  in  time  of  war,  protect  the  whole  com- 
monwealth. Let  the  Goths  obey  therefore  the  judge  established 
by  us;  let  them  submit  to  his  legal  decisions.  Our  aim  is  to 
satisfy  their  interests  and  the  interests  of  our  empire.^ 

More  ambitious  and  important  than  the  Edictum  Theo- 
''^-.    derici  was  the  Lex  Romana  Visigothorum,^  compiled  by 

1  vii,  3. 

2  Edited  by  G.  Haenel   (Bonn,   1849).     For  an  excellent  rearrange- 
ment and  German  translation,  see  M.  Conrat,  Breviarium  Alaricianum, 


! 


6i7]  DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES  211 

commissioners  appointed  by  Alaric  II,  king  of  the  Visigoths, 
with  the  approval  of  his  bishops  and  nobles,  and  published 
in  southern  Gaul  in  the  year  506.     The  compilation  was 
designated  in  the  sixteenth  century  the  breviarium  Alarici, 
or  Aniani  (from  the  secretary,  Anianus,  who  certified  the 
copies).     Haenel  has  estimated  that  the  compilers  used  for 
the   leges,   three   hundred   and   ninety-eight   edicts   of   the 
thirty-four  hundred  in  the  Theodosian  Code,  thirty-three  of 
the  hundred  and  forty  post-Theodosian  Novels,  twenty-two 
of  the  Gregorian  Code,  and  two  of  the  Hermogenian;  and 
for  the  ius,  excerpts  from  the  Institutes  of  Gaius  and  from 
the  Sentences  of  Paul,  and  a  single  quotation  from  Papinian. 
The  Roman  law  of  the  Visigoths  exerted  considerable  \n-c- 
fluence  in  the  west,  even  in  the  Salic  law  and  in  the  capitu-    ) 
laries  of  the  Carolingians ;  and  until  the  rise  of  the  school    \ 
at  Bologna  in  the  twelfth  century,  it  was  used  in  western    K 
Europe  more  than  Justinian's  code. 

Another  abridgment  of  Roman  law  was  promulgated  by 
Gundobad,  king  of  the  Burg^ndians,  about  the  year  516  for 
his  Roman  subjects.^  It  is  divided  into  forty-seven  titles, 
deals  with  private  and  criminal  law  and  with  judicial  pro- 
cedure, and  is  based  on  the  same  sources  as  the  Breviary 
of  Alaric.  It  is  half  code  and  half  text-book,  extremely 
simple  in  outline  and  scope,  with  only  occasional  quotation 
of  authorities,  such  as  secundum  legum  novellam,  or  secun- 
dum, Gaium. 

The  customary  or  "  Germanic "  laws  of  the  invaders 
were  gradually  committed  to  writing  in   different  places 

rbmisches  Recht  im  frdnkischen  Reich,  in  systematischer  Darstellung 
(Leipzig,  1903).  Cf.  also  C.  Lecrivain,  "  Remarques  sur  I'interpreta- 
tion  de  la  Lex  Romana  Visigothorum "  in  Annates  du  Midi,  vol.  i, 
pp.  145-182   (1891). 

1  Edited  by  L.  R.  De  Salis  in  Monumenta  Gemtaniae  historica,  Legum 
sectio  I,  vol.  ii  (Hanover,  1893). 


V 


212  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [6i8 

between  the  middle  of  the  fifth  and  the  middle  of  the  ninth 
centuries.^  Burgundians,^  Visigoths,^  and  Lombards  pos- 
sessed written  tribal  laws  probably  fifty  to  a  hundred  years 
after  their  settlement  on  Roman  territory.  Compilations 
were  made  by  Salian  and  Ripuarian  Franks,  Alamanni,* 
and  Swabians  during  the  Merovingian  period ;  by  Bavarians 
near  the  close  of  that  period;  and  in  Carolingian  times, 
codes  were  drawn  up  by  peoples  who  had  been  in  slight 
contact  with  Rome, — Frisians,  Saxons,  Angles,  and  Thur- 
ingians. 

All  these  German  codes  are  written  in  Latin,  except  the 
Anglo-Saxon  laws,  which  belong  to  a  period  posterior  to 
our  present  review.  It  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  they 
are  even  Latin  translations  of  German  texts.  On  this 
point,  especially  with  regard  to  the  Salic  law,  many  battles 
have  been  fought  and  many  lances  have  been  broken.     The 

1  See  H.  Brunner,  Deutsche  Rechtsgeschichte  (Leipzig,  1887-1892)  ; 
J.  F.  Schulte,  Lehrbuch  der  deutschen  Reichs-  und  Rechtsgeschichte, 
6th  ed.  (Stuttgart,  1892);  and  R.  Schroder,  Lehrbuch  der  deutschen 
Rechtsgeschichte,  3rd  ed.   (Leipzig,  1898). 

2  The  Burgundian  compilation  bears  the  name  of  Gundobad,  who 
likewise  directed  the  above-noted  adaptation  of  Roman  law.  The  Lex 
Gundobada  is  edited  by  L.  R.  De  Salis  in  Monumenta  Germaniae  his- 
torica,  Leges,  vol.  ii  (Hanover,  1893).  There  is  a  French  translation 
by  J.  F.  A.  Peyre  (Lyons,  1855).  See  K.  Binding,  Das  burgundisch- 
rofnanische  Konigreich  (Leipzig,  1868). 

'  The  Visigothic  code,  which  was  issued  probably  in  the  second  half 
of  the  sixth  century  by  King  Reccessvindus,  is  edited  by  K.  Zeumer  in 
Pontes  iuris  Germanici  antiqui  in  usum  scholarum  (Hanover,  1894). 
There  is  a  French  translation  by  L.  Beauchet  (Paris,  1889).  See  F. 
Dahn,  Westgothische  Studien  (Wiirzburg,  1874). 

*  The  laws  of  the  Alamanni  were  gradually  brought  together ;  per- 
kaps  the  first  codification  was  made  under  Clotaire  H  (613-628).  They 
are  edited  by  C.  Lehmann  in  Monumenta  Germaniae  historica,  Leges, 
Tol.  T  (Hanover,  1888). 


6i9]  DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES  213 

net  result  seems  to  be  a  general  confession  of  ignorance  as 
to  whether  there  was  an  original  Prankish  law-book  or  not, 
and  if  there  was,  it  is  not  known  when  or  where  a  Latin 
translation  was  prepared.  We  can  only  say  that  the  Latin 
version,  as  we  have  it,  was  not  made  before  Clovis  had 
extended  his  power  to  the  Loire. ^ 

The  Salic  law  ^  has  a  prologue  of  much  later  date  than 
the  Lex  itself,  which  places  its  composition  at  a  time  when 
the  Franks  were  governed  by  proceres;  but  from  the  fact 
that  the  law  bears  no  trace  either  of  paganism  or  of  Chris- 
tianity, it  is  reasoned  that  it  must  have  been  drawn  up 
while  the  people  were  still  divided  over  religion,  that  is, 
toward  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Clovis.  It  is  contended, 
however,  that  our  redaction  is  subsequent  to  the  year  657.* 
The  older  manuscripts,  moreover,  contain  the  so-called 
"  Malberg  Gloss,"  interpolated  Frankish  words  and  phrases, 
which  serve  in  some  cases  to  explain  the  Latin  words  and 
in  any  case  to  complicate  further  the  questions  involved  in 
the  origin  and  dates  of  the  Salic  compilation.  This  and 
much  new  material,  inserted  by  private  copyists,  render  the 
reconstruction  of  the  original  text  more  or  less  problem- 
atical. 

The  Salic  law  is  very  homely.  In  scope  and  arrange- 
ment it  is  not  to  be  compared  with  the  great  imperial  codes 
of  Theodosius  and  Justinian,  or  even  with  the  adapted 
codes  of  Theodoric  and  Alaric.  It  consists  largely  of 
stated  fines  or  "  compositions  "  to  be  paid  for  various  com- 
monplace injuries,  such  as  assault  or  pig-stealing,  and  it 

^  See  Lex  Salica,  tit.  47. 

2  Edited  by  J.  H.  Hessels  with  very  valuable  notes  by  H.  Kern  (Lon- 
don, 1880).  There  is  a  French  translation  in  I.  Fave,  L' empire  des 
Francs  ( Paris,  1888) .  See  M.  Krammer,  "  Kritische  Untersuchungen 
zur  Lex  Salica"  in  Neues  Archiv  fur  dltere  deutsche  Geschichte  (ipog). 

»  See  H.  Brunner,  op.  cit. 


214  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC JNVASIONS         [620 

deals  almost  entirely  with  what  we  should  call  the  law  of 
torts  and  crimes  and  the  law  of  procedure.  Of  its  original 
sixty-five  titles,  only  six  or  seven  are  devoted  to  the  law 
of  family,  property  and  inheritance.  In  spite  of  the  un- 
certainty surrounding  its  origin,  the  Salic  law  is  a  very 
vital  source  of  information  about  the  Germans.  It  reflects 
the  every-day  life  of  the  Franks  of  the  Merovingian  days 
in  a  singularly  naive  fashion,  and  suggests  the  hypothesis 
that  some  of  its  features  which  are  not  found  in  Roman 
law,  such  as  the  exclusion  of  daughters  from  inheritance, 
the  "  composition  "  for  crime,  and  the  usage  of  holding  a 
whole  family  responsible  for  the  misdeeds  of  one  of  its 
members,  had  had  an  historical  evolution  in  Germany  be- 
fore the  barbarians  came  into  contact  with  the  empire. 

More  detailed  than  the  Salic  law,  and  consequently  es- 
pecially  useful  for  a  study  of  Germanic  law,  is  the  Lombard 
^  code,^  which  consists  of  the  Edictum  of  Rothari,  published 
in  643,  and  of  additions  made  by  succeeding  kings.  The 
Edictum  itself  contains  three  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
titles,  relating  to  a  great  variety  of  subjects  but  chiefly  to 
crimes  and  judicial  procedure.  The  epilogue  to  the  edict 
is  interesting: 

We  now  confirm  this  edict,  which  by  God's  grace  we  have  com- 
posed after  earnest  study  and  long  vigils.  By  the  Divine  favor 
we  have  persevered  in  our  task,  inquiring  into  and  calling  to 
remembrance  the  ancient  laws  of  our  fathers.  Those  which 
were  not  written  we  have  nevertheless  learned;  and  we  have 
added  to  them  those  things  which  seemed  to  be  expedient  for 

1  Edited  by  F.  Bluhme  in  Monumenta  Gernmniae  historica.  Leges, 
Tol.  iv  (Hanover,  1868).  It  is  also  in  Pontes  iuris  Germanici  antiqui 
in  usum  scholarum  (Hanover,  1869).  There  is  a  helpful  summary  of 
the  Lombard  laws,  from  which  most  of  the  following  quotations  are 
taken,  in  T.  Hodgkin,  Italy  and  her  Invaders,  vol.  vi,  pp.  174-238. 


62l]  DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES  215 

the  common  welfare  of  all,  and  of  our  own  race ;  acting  herein 
with  the  advice  and  by  the  consent  of  the  nobles,  the  judges, 
and  all  our  most  successful  army;  and  we  now  order  them  to  be 
written  down  on  this  parchment,  with  this  one  reservation,  that 
all  things  which  by  the  Divine  clemency  have  been  ascertained 
by  our  own  accurate  inquiry,  or  which  old  men  have  been  able 
to  remember  concerning  the  ancient  laws  of  the  Lombards,  are 
to  be  subjoined  to  this  edict.  We  add,  moreover,  hereto  our 
confirmation  by  gairethinx,  that  this  law  may  be  firm  and  en- 
during, and  that  both  in  our  own  most  prosperous  times  and 
in  all  time  to  come  it  may  be  kept  inviolably  by  all  our 
successors. 

Some  idea  of  the  peculiarities  of  Lombard  law  may  be 
obtained  from  the  following  partial  list  of  "  compositions," 
or  fines  for  damages : 

'  FOR  BODILY  INJURIES  TO  A  FREE  PERSON.^ 

Blows  Struck  in  sudden  quarrel  causing  a  wound  or  bruise 

3  solidi  apiece  up  to  12  solidi  ' 

(If  more  blows  are  inflicted  they  are  not  to  be  counted,  but  let  the 
wounded  man  rest  content  with  himself.) 
Blow  with  the  fist 3  solidi 

"         "       "     palm  of  the  hand 6 

Blows  on  the  head,  only  breaking  the  skin 6  solidi  up  to  18      " 

"        "     "      "       breaking   bones    (per   bone)    12 

(No  count  to  be  taken  above  36  solidi;  and  the  broken  bones  are  to 
be  counted  on  this  principle  that  one  bone  shall  be  found  large  enough 
to  make  an  audible  sound  when  thrown  against  a  shield  at  twelve  feet 
distance  on  the  road,  the  said  feet  to  be  measured  from  the  foot  of  a 
man  of  moderate  stature,  not  the  hand.) 

The  deprivation  of  an  eye  is  to  be, atoned  for  by  the  payment  of  half 
the  fine  due  for  actual  homicide,  according  to  the  quality  of  the  per- 
son injured. 

1  Tit.  43-75. 

*  A  solidus  may  be  taken  as  equivalent  to  twelve  shillings  or  three 
dollars. 


2i6  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [622 

Cutting  oflF  the  nose half  the  fine  for  homicide 

Cutting  a  lip  13  solidi 

If  so  cut  that  I,  2,  or  3  teeth  appear 20      " 

Knocking  out  the  front  teeth    (per  tooth)   16      " 

"  "      "    grinders  (per  tooth)     8      " 

Cutting  off  an  ear quarter  the  fine  for  homicide 

Wound  on  the  face    16  solidi 

"         "     "     nose,  causing  a  scar 16      " 

"     "     ear,         "        "    "    16      "    . 

"         "     "     arm,  without  a  fracture 8      " 

Blow  on  the  chest  20      " 

Piercing  a  rib  8      " 

Cutting  off  a  hand  half  the  fine  for  homicide 

If  so  stricken  as  to  cause  paralysis,  but  not  cut  off quarter  the  fine 

for  homicide 

Cutting  off  a  thumb a  sixth  of  the  fine  for  homicide 

"  "   "  second  finger 17  solidi 

"   "  third         "      6      " 

"   "  fourth       "       8      " 

"   "  fifth  " 16      " 

"   "  great     toe  6      " 

"  "   "  second     "     6      " 

"  "    "  third       "     3      " 

"   "  fourth     "     3      " 

"   "  fifth        "     2      " 

"  "   "  foot  half  the  fine  for  homicide 

For  all  the  wounds  and  blows  above  mentioned,  which  may 
pass  between  free  men,  we  have  purposely  ordained  a  larger 
composition  than  was  in  use  among  our  ancestors,  in  order  that 
the  faida  (feud),  which  is  enmity,  may  be  postponed  after  the 
receipt  of  the  above-mentioned  composition,  and  that  more 
may  not  be  required,  nor  any  thought  of  guile  be  harbored  in 
the  heart;  but  let  the  case  be  heard  between  the  parties,  and 
friendship  remain.  And  should  it  happen  that  within  the  space 
of  a  year  he  who  was  wounded  dies  of  the  wounds  themselves, 
then  let  the  striker  pay  in  angargathungi,  that  is  the  fine  for 
homicide,  according  to  the  quality  of  the  person  injured,  what 
he  was  worth. 


623]  DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES  21/ 

The  position  of  women  among  the  Lombards  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  very  high: 

It  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  free  woman  living  according  to 
the  laws  of  the  Lombards  under  our  sway,  to  live  under  the 
power  of  her  own  free  will,  or  as  it  is  called  to  be  selpmundia, 
but  she  must  always  remain  under  the  power  of  men,  if  not  a 
husband  or  relative,  under  that  of  the  king's  court,  nor  shall 
she  have  the  power  of  giving  or  alienating  any  property,  mov- 
able or  immovable,  without  the  consent  of  him  in  whose  mun- 
dium  she  is  living.^ 

From  the  later  supplements  of  king  Liutprand  we  hear  a 
good  deal  about  the  divine  right  of  kings.  The  prologue 
states : 

He  [Liutprand]  has  conceived  the  idea  of  framing  these  laws, 
not  by  his  own  foresight,  but  by  the  will  and  inspiration  of 
God;  because  the  king's  heart  is  in  the  hands  of  God,  as  is 
witnessed  by  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  who  said,  "  As  the  rush 
of  water,  so  is  the  heart  of  the  king  in  God's  hand, — if  He 
shall  keep  it  back,  everything  will  be  dried  up,  but  if  He  in 
His  mercy  gives  it  free  course,  everything  is  watered  and  filled 
with  healthfulness."  So  too  the  apostle  James  in  his  epistle 
says,  "  Every  good  gift  and  every  perfect  gift  is  from  above 
and  cometh  down  from  the  Father  of  lights."     .     .     . 

Liutprand's  laws  show  noteworthy  traces  of  Roman  and 
Christian  influence.  One,  with  reference  to  the  restriction 
of  wager  of  battle,  is  illustrative :  ^ 

We  have  now  ordained  that  the  punishment  for  the  murder  of 
a  free  man  shall  be  the  loss  of  the  whole  of  the  murderer's 
property :  but  certain  men,  perhaps  through  hardness  of  heart, 
have  accused  the  relations  of  a  man  who  has  died  in  his  bed  of 
having  poisoned  him,  and  have  therefore,  according  to  the  old 

1  Tit.  204.  *  Laws  of  Liutprand,  cxTiii. 


2i8  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [624 

custom,  challenged  them  to  single  combat.  It  seems  to  us  a 
serious  matter  that  the  loss  of  a  man's  whole  property  should 
be  caused  by  the  weakness  of  a  single  shield ;  and  we  therefore 
ordain  that  in  case  any  accusation  of  this  kind  should  be  brought 
in  future,  the  accuser  shall  swe^ar  on  the  gospels  that  he  does 
not  bring  it  in  malice,  but  has  good  grounds  for  his  suspicion. 
Then  he  may  proceed  to  battle  according  to  the  old  custom,  but 
if  the  accused  person  or  his  hired  champion  is  defeated,  let  him 
pay,  not  his  whole  fortune,  but  a  composition,  as  under  the 
whole  law,  according  to  the  rank  of  the  murdered  man. — For 
we  are  uncertain  about  the  judgment  of  God,  and  we  have 
heard  of  many  persons  unjustly  losing  their  cause  by  wager 
of  battle.  But  on  account  of  the  custom  of  our  nation  of  the 
Lombards  we  cannot  change  the  law  itself. 

The  canon,  or  ecclesiastical,  law  constitutes  the  second 
great  group  of  documentary  sources  which  should  be  of 
use  in  studying  the  Germanic  invasions.^ 

The  Catholic  Church  increased  greatly  in  importance  as 
a  political  institution  during  the  period  of  the  most  extensive 
barbarian  settlements  in  the  west,  and  its  laws  not  only 
present  a  picture  of  general  conditions  but  also  in  many 
instances  refer  directly  to  the  newcomers.  The  extant  laws 
are  mainly  the  acts  of  general  and  local  meetings  of  the 
clergy,  for  few  of  the  early  papal  rescripts  and  letters  have 
survived.  That  archives  were  kept  at  Rome  comparatively 
early,  we  gather  from  a  statement  in  the  acts  of  a  council 
held  under  pope  Damasus  cca.  370 ;  and  the  lost  register  of 
Gregory  the  Great  has  been  an  object  of  painstaking  study 
and  fanciful  reconstruction.^     Not  until  we  reach  the  time 

1  For  guides  to  the  study  of  canon  law,  see  J.  B.  Sagmiiller,  Lehr- 
buch  des  katholischen  Kirchenrechts  (Freiburg-i-B.,  1900-1904)  ;  and 
A.  Tardif,  Histoire  des  sources  du  droit  canonique  (Paris,  1887). 

2  See  P.  Ewald,  "  Studien  zur  Ausgabe  des  Register  Gregors  I,"  in 
Neues  Archiv  fiir  a.  deutsch.  Geschichte  (1878),  pp.  433-625. 


625]  DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES  219 

of  John  VIII  (d.  882),  do  we  have  an  extensive  fragment 
of  a  papal  register/ 

Our  chief  concern,  then,  is  with  the  canons  and  decrees  of 
church  councils.     It  was  only  in  the  fourth  century,  when 
peace  was  assured  to  the  Christians,  that  their  bishops  and 
doctors  could  publicly  meet  together  and  promulgate  laws. 
These  meetings  were  at  first  called  synodes,  and  later  con- 
cilia, a  term  now  prevailing  in  the  canon  law  of  the  west, 
the  word  synod  being  usually  reserved  to  designate  an  as- 
sembly of  clergy  of  a  single  diocese  assembled  under  the 
presidency  of  their  bishop.     The  so-called  general  or  ecu-  J 
menical   councils  —  Nicaea    (325),   Constantinople    (381),' 
Ephesus  (431),  Chalcedon  (451),  Second  of  Constantinople 
(553)'  Third  of  Constantinople  (680),  Second  of  Nicaea 
(787),  and  Fourth  of  Constantinople   (869) — were  con-/ 
cemed  almost  entirely  with  definitions  of  faith  and  regula-* 
tion  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  and  their  canons  are  not 
very  helpful  for  our  purposes.     It  is  the  special  local  coun- 
cils after  the  great  general  council  of  Nicaea,  whose  canons 
should  be  investigated. 

In  Spain,  councils  were  held  at  Saragossa,  Seville  and 
Barcelona  in  the  fourth  century,  and  the  acts  of  seventeen 
councils  convened  at  Toledo  between  the  years  400  and 
694  are  an  excellent  source  of  information  about  the  reli- 
gious, political  and  social  conditions  in  the  peninsula,  about 

*  A  collection  of  papal  letters  for  the  years  461-523  was  published  !)y 
A.  Thiel  (Braunsburg,  1868).  S.  Loewenfeld  published  a  collection 
of  over  four  hundred,  extending  from  Gelasius  I  to  Celestine  III 
(Leipzig,  1885)  ;  and  others  are  in  the  collection  of  J.  v.  Pflugk-Hart- 
ung,  3  vols.  (Stuttgart,  i88o-6).  The  Turin  collection  of  papal  bulls,  ed. 
A.  Tomasetti,  is  faulty  and  incomplete.  Cf.  also  P.  Jaffe,  Regesta 
pontiHcum  Romanorum  ab  condita  ecclesia  ad  an.  post  Christum  nat. 
1198,  second  ed.  revised  by  G.  Wattenbach,  S.  Loewenfeld,  F.  Kalten- 
brunner,  and  P.  Ewald,  2  vols.   (Leipzig,  1885-8). 


220  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [626 

the  Visigothic  kingdom,  and  the  relations  between  the  Arian 
king  and  his  Catholic  subjects.  Particularly  important  was 
the  council  of  Toledo  of  587,  the  year  in  which  king  Rec- 
cared  was  converted  to  Catholicism/ 

The  seven  councils  of  Carthage,  which  were  held  between 
the  years  348  and  424,  are  similarly  useful  for  the  history 
of  the  African  provinces  and  for  the  rise  of  the  Vandal 
power. 

In  Italy,  the  first  canon  source  is  a  decretal  of  pope 
Siricius  (384-398).  Then  there  are  the  records  of  papal 
councils  in  465  and  in  499,  and  increasingly  important  ones 
under  Symmachus,  Gregory  the  Great  (in  595  and  in  601), 
Boniface  III  (in  606),  Martin  I  (in  649),  and  Agatho 
(in  680). 

Councils  were  held  in  Gaul  as  early  as  the  year  314  (first 
of  Aries),  and  thenceforth  their  canons  run  parallel  as 
sources  for  the  time  with  the  narratives  of  Gregory  of 
Tours,  Fortunatus,  the  pseudo-Fredegarius,  the  Gesta 
regum  Francorum,  and  the  multitude  of  saints'  lives.  Every 
episcopal  city  of  Gaul  had  its  councils,  meeting  with  greater 
or  less  regularity,  —  Aries,  Tours,  Orleans,  Paris,  Lyons, 
Vienne,  Auxerre,  Macon,  and  others.^ 

Christianity  had  early  been  spread  in  Britain,  appearing 
in  Ireland  and  Scotland  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth  cen- 

1  The  acts  of  the  Spanish  councils  are  in  the  collection  of  Cardinal 
J.  Saenz  de  Aguirre,  6  vols.  (Rome,  1753-5).  See  P.  B.  Gams,  Kirch- 
engeschichte  Spaniens  (Regensburg,  1874). 

2  The  acts  of  the  Gallic  councils  were  collected  and  edited  by  P.  Sir- 
mond,  3  vols.  (Paris,  1629),  and  two  supplementary  volumes  were 
issued  respectively  by  P.  de  la  Lande  and  L.  Odespun.  A  new  edition 
is  now  being  brought  out  in  the  Monumenta  Germaniae  historica,  Con- 
cilia: vol.  i  is  edited  by  F.  Maassen  (Hanover,  1893),  and  contains 
acts  of  councils  from  511  to  695;  vol.  ii  is  edited  by  A.  Werminghoff 
(Hanover  and  Leipzig,  1906),  and  contains  acts  of  Gallic  councils  from 
742  to  817. 


,>tJ.- 


627]  DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES  22 1 

tury,  but  no  collection  of  canon  law  is  known  for  that  early 
period.  Under  the  Anglo-Saxon  rulers,  the  discipline  of 
the  English  church  was  regulated  by  the  provincial  coun- 
cils/ of  which  the  one  at  Hertford  in  673,  presided  over 
by  Theodore,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  was  especially  im- 
portant. A  collection  of  canon  law  in  dialogue  form  was 
prepared  by  Egbert  of  York  (d.  767).  A  large  and  valu- 
able collection  in  sixty-four  or  sixty-nine  books  was  made 
in  Ireland  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century,  styled  the 
Synodus  Patritii  or  Hibernensis.^ 

The  councils  held  by  Saint  Boniface  in  Germany  in  the 
eighth  century  are  almost  too  late  for  our  review,  but  their 
proceedings  are  certainly  suggestive. 

The  Catholic  Church  has  never  issued  an  official  code  of  /  Q^^' 
canon  law,  but  has  left  that  work  to  private  initiative. 
Several  such  compilations  were  made  comparatively  early, 
but  they  were  replaced,  at  least  in  the  west,  by  the  celebrated 
collection  of  Denis  the  Less  ^  (fl.  525).  Denis  was 
"  a  Scythian  by  race  but  otherwise  quite  a  Roman,"  accord- 
ing to  Cassiodorus,  his  friend  and  associate.*  He  was  a 
monk  and  spent  most  of  his  life  at  Rome.  Versed  in  Greek 
and  in  the  study  of  chronology,  he  introduced  the  usage  of  ? 
counting  years  from  the  birth  of  Christ.  His  collection  of 
canon   law   was   made,    probably   under   pope   Symmachus 

1  The  acts  of  the  British  councils  are  best  edited  by  A.  W.  Haddan 
and  W.  Stubbs,  3  vols.  (Oxford,  1869). 

*  Edited  by  F.  W.  H.  Wasserschleben,  Die  irische  Kanonensamtn- 
lung  (Giessen,  1874).  See  P.  Fournier,  "  De  I'influence  de  la  collec- 
tion irlandaise  sur  la  formation  des  collections  canoniques "  in  Nou- 
velle  Revue  historique  de  droit  frangais  et  etranger  (1899). 

»  The  title  Exiguus,  which  Denis  gave  himself,  was  only  a  term  of 
kumility. 

*  De  institutione  divinarum  litterorum,  ch.  23,  in  Migne,  Patrol.  Lot, 
vol.  Ixx,  col.  1 137. 


222  SOURCES  OF  THE  GERMANIC  INVASIONS         [628 

(498-514),  at  the  request  of  a  certain  Stephen,  bishop  of 
Salona  in  Dalmatia,  and  embraced  the  fifty  "Apostolic  Con- 
stitutions," and  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  canons  of  Greek 
councils,  translated  into  Latin,  together  with  twenty-one 
canons  of  the  council  of  Sardica,  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  of  the  council  of  Carthage  of  419,  and  thirty-eight 
papal  decretals  from  Siricius  to  Anastasius  II  (384-498)/ 
Before  bringing  to  a  close  these  suggestions  of  possible 
documentary  sources  relating  to  the  Germanic  invasions,  at- 
tention should  be  called  to  the  penitentials,  which  have  been 
the  subject  of  considerable  study  in  the  last  fifty  years.* 
The  penitentials  are  collections  of  rules  prescribing  penances 
for  sins.  Sometimes  they  contain  the  canons  of  the  coun- 
cils which  enacted  the  penalties,  but  more  often  they  simply 
enumerate  the  offenses  and  the  penances  analogous  to  the 
fines  in  the  German  laws.  The  oldest  extant  penitentials 
are  probably  of  the  sixth  century.  They  afford  glimpses 
of  the  social  life  of  the  times  and  acquaint  us  with  what 
was  deemed  moral  and  what  was  deemed  immoral.  Per- 
haps the  indications  in  the  penitentials  that  the  barbarians 
had  vices  as  well  as  virtues  might  be  helpful  to  anyone  who 
is  bent  on  forming  an  opinion  concerning  Germanic  con- 
tributions to  civilization  and  culture. 

A  complete  history  of  the  relations  between  Romans  and 

1  The  classical  editions  of  these  general  councils  and  of  many  of  the 
local  synods  by  Labbe,  Baluze,  and  Hardouin  are  incorporated  in  the 
standard  edition  of  Coleti  and  Mansi,  Sacrorum  conciliorum  nova  et 
amplissima  collectio  (Florence  and  Venice,  1759-1798). 

2  See  especially  two  books  by  H.  J.  Schmitz,  Die  Busshucher  und  die 
Bussdisciplin  der  Kirche  (Mainz,  1883),  and  Die  BussbUcher  und  das 
kanonische  Bussverfahren  (Diisseldorf,  1898)  ;  E.  Goller,  Die  p'dpst- 
liche  Ponitentiare  von  threw,  Ursprung  bis  su  ihrer  Umgestaltung  unter 
Pius  V  (Rome,  1907)  ;  F.  W.  H.  Wasserschleben,  Die  Bussordnungen 
der  abendldndischen  Kirche  (Halle,  1851). 


629]  DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES  223 

Germans  would  cover  a  period  of  seven  or  eight  centuries. 
It  would  begin  with  the  northern  expansion  of  the  Roman 
state,  and  would  thenceforth  parallel  the  growth  and  de- 
velopment of  the  commonwealth  as  well  as  its  decline  and 
disruption.  It  may  seem  as  if  our  rapid  survey  of  the 
principal  narrative  and  documentary  sources  from  Plutarch's 
"  Life  of  Marius  "  and  Caesar's  "  Commentaries  "  to  Paul 
the  Deacon's  "  History  of  the  Lombards  "  and  Liutprand's 
laws  has  indicated  the  existence  of  full  and  adequate  ma- 
terial for  such  a  history.  Nothing  could  be  further  from 
the  truth.  In  the  whole  range  of  extant  sources  which  we 
have  been  reviewing, — biographies  of  famous  generals,  em- 
perors, martyrs,  and  saints;  occasional  vague  geographical 
notices;  encomiums  upon  rulers;  religious  treatises  and 
tracts;  three  or  four  military  histories;  scant  and  tire- 
some chronicles ;  poems,  orations  and  rhetorical  letters ;  and 
a  few  laws  of  state  and  church, — it  will  be  remembered  that 
not  a  single  one  was  written  purposely  to  acquaint  posterity 
with  the  nature  or  method  of  the  fusing  of  barbarians  and 
imperial  subjects  or  with  the  process  of  the  dissolution  of 
the  western  provinces  of  the  Roman  empire.  Nor  has  it 
been  possible,  moreover,  to  convey  an  accurate  notion  of 
the  fragmentary  character,  the  irrelevancy,  the  lack  of  criti- 
cal insight,  the  hopeless  inadequacy,  which  distinguish  al- 
most all  the  existing  material. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


In  addition  to  the  writings  mentioned  in  the  text  or  foot-notes,  the 
following  general  guides  and  secondary  works  have  been  found  most 
helpful. 

GUIDES  TO  THE  SOURCES. 

Dahlmann — Waitz.  Quellenkunde  der  deutschen  Geschichte,  7th  ed.  by 
E.   Brandenburg   (Leipzig,   1906). 

Ebert,  A.  Allgemeine  Geschichte  der  Literatur  des  Mittelalters  im 
Abendlande,  vols,  i,  ii  (Leipzig,  1880)  ;  trans,  into  French  by  J. 
Aymeric  and  J.  Condamin  (Paris,  1884). 

Gross,  C.  Sources  and  Literature  of  English  History  from  the  earliest 
times  to  about  1485  (New  York,  1900). 

Hardy,  T.  D.  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  materials  relating  to  the  his- 
tory of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  to  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Henry 
VH,  in  "Rolls  Series,"  vol.  xxvi,  part  i   (London,  1862). 

Krumbacher,  K.  Die  Geschichte  der  byzantinischen  Literatur  (Munich, 
1891). 

Molinier,  A.  Les  sources  de  I'histoire  de  France;  vol.  i,  Spoque  prim- 
itive, m.erovingiens  et  carolingiens  (Paris,  1901). 

Monod,  G.  Etudes  critiques  sur  les  sources  de  I'histoire  merovingienne 
(Paris,  1872). 

Peter,  H.  Die  geschichtliche  Literatur  iiber  die  romische  Kaiserzeii 
bis  Theodosius  I  und  ihre  Quellen,  2  vols.  (Leipzig,  1897). 

Potthast,  A.  Bibliotheca  historica  medii  aevi, — Wegweiser  durch  die 
Geschichtswerke  des  europdischen  Mittelalters  bis  1500,  2nd  ed., 
2  vols.  (Berlin,  1896). 

Schafer,  A.  Quellenkunde  der  griechischen  und  romischen  Geschichte 
(Leipzig,  1885). 

Teuffel,  W.  S.,  and  Schwabe,  L.  Geschichte  der  romischen  Literatur, 
trans,  into  English  by  G.  C.  W.  Warr,  2  vols.  (London,  1891-2). 

Wattenbach,  W.    Deutschlands  Geschichtsquellen  im  Mittelalter,  2  volt. 
(Berlin,  1893-4). 
224  [630 


631]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  225 

GENERAL  SECONDARY  WORKS. 

Bury,  J.  B.  History  of  the  Later  Roman  Empire  from  Arcadius  to 
Irene,  2  vols.  (London,  1889-92). 

Chadwick,  H.  M.  The  Origin  of  the  English  Nation  (Cambridge, 
1907). 

Cramer,  J.  Die  Verfassungsgeschichte  der  Germanen  und  Kelten 
(Berlin,  1906). 

Dahn,  F.    Die  Konige  der  Germanen,  11  vols.  (Leipzig,  1897-1908). 

Dahn,  F.  Urgeschichte  der  germanischen  und  romanischen  Volker, 
4  vols.  (Berlin,  1881-9). 

Diehl,  M.  C.  Justinien  et  la  civilisation  hyzantine  au  VI^  siccle  (Paris, 
1901). 

Dill,  S.  Roman  Society  in  the  last  century  of  the  Western  Empire 
(London,  1898). 

Elton,  C.  L     Origins  of  English  History,  2nd  ed.  (London,  1890). 

Freeman,  E.  A.     Western  Europe  in  the  Fifth  Century  (London,  1904). 

Fustel  de  Coulanges,  N.  D.  Histoire  des  institutions  politiques  de 
I'ancienne  France,  6  vols.,  completed  by  C.  Jullian  (Paris,  1873- 
1892)  ;  especially  La  Gaule  romaine,  L'invasion  germanique  et  la 
fin  de  I'empire,  and  La  monarchic  franqne. 

Gams,  P.  B.  Die  Kirchengeschichte  Spaniens,  3  vols.  (Regens- 
burg,  1862-74). 

Gebhardt,  B.  Handbuch  der  dcutschen  Geschichte,  2nd  ed.,  vol.  i 
(Stuttgart,  1901). 

Gibbon,  E.  The  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire, ed.  by  J.  B.  Bury,  7  vols.  (London,  1900-1902). 

Glover,  T.  R.  Life  and  Letters  in  the  Fourth  Century  (Cambridge, 
1901). 

Giildenpenning,  A.  Geschichte  des  ostromischen  Reiches  unter  den 
Kaisern  Arcadius  und  Theodosius  II  (Halle,  1885). 

Hartmann,  L.  M.  Geschichte  Italiens  im  Mittelalter,  2  vols.  (Leipzig, 
1898- 1903). 

Hodgkin,  T.  Italy  and  her  Invaders,  8  vols.  (London,  1880-1900)  : 
vol.  i,  The  Visigothic  Invasion;  ii.  The  Hunnish  and  Vandal  In- 
vasions; iii,  The  Ostrogothic  Invasion;  iv,  The  Imperial  Restora- 
tion; V,  The  Lombard  Invasion;  vi,  The  Lombard  Kingdom;  vii. 
The  Frankish  Invasion;  viii.  The  Frankish  Empire. 

Kaufmann,  G.  Deutsche  Geschichte  bis  auf  Karl  den  Grossen  (Leip- 
zig, 1880). 

Kurth,  G.    Clovis,  2nd  ed.,  2  vols.  (Paris,  1901). 

Lavisse,  E.  Ed.  Histoire  de  France  (Paris,  1900  et  seq.)  :  vol.  i,  Les 
origines.  La  Gaule  independante  et  La  Gaule  romaine,  by  G.  Bloch; 


226  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [632 

ii,  Le  Christianisme,  les  barbares,  merovingiens  et  carolingiens,  by 
C.  Bayet,  C.  Pfister  and  A.  Kleinclausz. 

Martroye,  F.  Genseric,  la  conquete  vandale  en  Afrique  et  la  destruc- 
tion de  I' empire  d' accident  (Paris,  1907). 

Martroye,  F,  L' Occident  d  Vepoque  byzantine,  Goths  et  Vandales 
(Paris,  1903). 

Mommsen,  T.  History  of  Rome,  and  The  Provinces  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire, trans,  into  English  by  W,  P,  Dickson,  5  vols.   (New  York, 

1903-5)- 
Mtillenhoff,  K.    Deutsche  Altertumskunde,  revised  by  M.  Roediger  and 

others,  5  vols.  (Berlin,  1883-1900). 
Schiller,    H.    Geschichte    der   romischen   Kaiserzeit,   2   vols.    (Gotha, 

1883-7). 
Schmidt,   L.     Geschichte  der  deutschen   Stdmme   bis  zum  Ausgange 

der  V olkerwanderung  (Berlin,  1904). 
Seeck,  O.    Geschichte  des  Untergangs  der  antiken  Welt,  2  vols.  (Ber- 
lin, 1895-1901). 
Villari,  P.    Le  invasioni  barbariche  in  Italia  (Milan,  1901),  trans,  into 

English  by  L.  Villari,  2  vols.  (New  York,  1902). 
Viollet,  P.    Droit  public,  histoire  des  institutions  politiques  et  admin- 

istratives  de  la  France,  3  vols.  (Paris,  1890-1903). 
Waitz,  G.    Deutsche  Verfassungsgeschichte,  3rd  ed.,  s  vols.   (Berlin, 

1880). 
Wietersheim,  K.  A.  W.  E.  von.    Geschichte  der  V olkerwanderung,  ed. 

by  F.  Dahn,  2  vols.  (Leipzig,  1880-1). 
Zippel,   G.    Deutsche   Volkerbewegungen  in  der  Romerzeit   (Konigs- 

berg,  1895). 


INDEX  OF  SOURCES 


Ablavius,  98,  159- 

Aelius  Junius  Cordus,  59  note. 

Aelius  Lampridius.     See  Augustan 

Histories. 
Aelius  Spartianus.      See  Augustan 

•Histories. 
Agathias,  70  note,  169  note. 
Ammianus  Marcellinus,  54,  60  sqq., 

74  sqq. 
Ammonius,  94  note. 
Annates,   145  sqq. 
Anonymus  Cuspiniani,  148  sq.,  152. 
Anonymus  Valesianus,  149,  153,  164 

note,  168. 
Apoliinaris  Sidonius.    See  Sidonius 

Apollinaris. 
Appian,  21  note,  39,  40. 
Asinius  Quadratus,  70  note. 
Athenaeus,  21  note, 
Aufidius  Bassus,  36. 
Augustan  Histories,  54  sqq. 
Augustine,  88,  104  sqq. 
Aurelius  Victor,  54,  59. 
Ausonius,  138. 

Barbarian  Codes,  52,  211  sqq. 
Bede,  192,  196. 
Braulio  of  Saragossa,  191. 
Breviarium  Alarici.    See  Lex  Ro- 
mana  Visigothorum. 

Caesar,  30  sqq.,  52  sq. 
Candidus,  99. 
Canon  Law,  218  sqq. 
Cassiodorus,  119,  149,  152  sqq.,  168, 
208  sqq. 
633] 


Cassius  Dio.    See  Die  Cassius. 

Catulus,  20. 

Chronica  Italica,  150  sq. 

Chronicles,  145  sq. 

Cicero,  24,  31,  142. 

Claudian,  138  sq. 

Code,  Gregorian,  200. 

Code,  Hermogenian,  201. 

Code  of  Justinian,  203  sqq. 

Code,  Theodosian,  114  note,  202  sqq. 

Constantine  VH,  Porphyrogenitus, 
98  sq. 

Cotitinuatio  Havniensis  Prosperi, 
150,  154. 

Corippus,  143. 

Corpus  iuris  civilts.  See  Code  of 
Justinian. 

Count  Marcellinus.  See  Marcel- 
linus Comes. 

Denis  Exiguus,  221  sq. 
Dexippus,  68  note,  89. 
Dio  Cassius,  54  sqq.,  159. 
Diodorus  of  Sicily,  24. 

Edictum  Theoderici,  208  sqq. 
Ennodius,  128,  156  note. 
Epiphanius,  119. 
Eratosthenes,  18  note. 
Eucherius,  127  note. 
Eugenius  of  Toledo,  191. 
Eugippius,  128  sqq. 
Eumenius,  134  sq. 
Eunapius  of  Sardis,  69  note,  89,  99. 
Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  106,  118  sq,, 
146  sq. 

227 


228 


INDEX  OF  SOURCES 


[634 


Eutropius,  54,  59,  75,  196. 
Excerpta  de  legationibus,  98  sqq. 

Fasti,  145  sqq. 

Flavius  Felix,  143. 

Flavius    Vopiscus.     See    Augustan 

Histories. 
Florentinus,   143. 
Floras,  39,  160  note. 
Fortunatus,  189  sq. 
Fredegarius        Scholasticus.        See 

pseudo-FTedegar'ms. 
Fulgentius,  143  sq. 

Gain e a,  94  note. 

Gennadius,  192. 

Georgius  Syncellus.    See  Syncellus. 

Gesta  reguin  Francortim,  194  sq. 

Gildas,  181. 

Gregory  of  Tours,  98,  184  sqq. 

Gregory  the  Great,  182  sqq. 

Herodian,  54,  56. 
Hippolytus,  193. 
Horace,  48  note. 

Idatius,  193. 

Ildefonsus  of  Toledo,  192. 

Isidore  of  Seville,  150,  191  sq. 

Jerome,  106,  116,  121  sqq.,  147,  192 

note,  193. 
Jordanes,  98,  155,  157  sqq. 
Josephus,  25. 
Julian  of  Toledo,  191. 
Julius   Capitolinus.     See   Augustan 

Histories. 
Justin,  21  note,  106. 
Justinian,  203  sqq. 

Lactantius,  107  note. 

Lex  Gundohada,  212. 

Lex  Romana  Burgundionum,  211. 

Lex  Romana  Raetica  Curiensis,  208 

note. 
Lex    Romana    Visigothorum,    201, 

210  sq. 


Libanius,  137. 

Liber  pontiUcalis,  182  note. 

Liutprand.    See  Lombard  Laws. 

Livy,  21,  36,  40. 

Lombard  Laws,  182,  214  sqq. 

Luxorius,  143, 

Malchus,  99,  102  sq. 

Marcellinus.    See  Ammianus   Mar- 

cellinus. 
Marcellinus  Comes,  148,  152. 
Marcus  Maximus,  191. 
Marius  Aventicensis,  150,  154,  194. 
Marius  Maximus,  57. 
Menander,  169  note. 

Namatianus.    See    Rutilius    Nama- 

tianus. 
Notitia  Dignitatum,  85  note. 
Novellae,  203  sq. 

Olympiodorus,  89,  99. 

Origo    Langobardorum,    182    note, 

196. 
Orosius,  86  note,  88,  96  note,   106 

sqq.,  159,  162. 
Ovid,  41  note,  145  note. 

Panegyrici,  134  sqq. 

Paschale  Campanum,  149,  153. 

Paterculus.    See  Velleius. 

Paulinus  of  Nola,  127  note. 

Paulinus  of  Pella,  141  note. 

Paul    the    Deacon,    150,    182,    184, 

19s  sqq. 
Pelagius  H,  182  sq. 
Penitentials,  222. 
Peutinger,  Table  of,  45. 
Photius,  89,  98  sq. 
Pliny,  Elder,  17,  36,  41,  44. 
Pliny,  Younger,  36  note,  46  sq. 
Plutarch,   19  sqq. 
Pompeius     Trogus.      See     Trogus 

Pompeius. 
Pomponius  Mela,  41,  44. 


635] 


INDEX  OF  SOURCES 


229 


Posidonius,  21. 
Priscus,  99  sqq.,  159- 
Procopius,  88,  155,  168  sqq. 
Prosper  of  Aquitaine,  147. 
Prosper  Tiro,  148. 
Prudentius,  138. 
Pseudo-Fredegarivis,  192  sqq. 
Ptolemy,  45.  I59- 
Pytheas,  16  sqq. 

Quintilian,  36. 

Renatus  Profuturus  Frigeridus,  98. 

Roman  Law,  199  sqq. 

Rothari.    See  Lombard  Laws. 

Rufinus,  119. 

Rutilius  Namatianus,  139  sq. 

Salic  Law,  212  sqq. 

Sallust,  20. 

Salvian,  88,  124  sqq. 

Secundus,  184,  196. 

Seneca  Rhetor,  36  note. 

Sextus  Julius  Africanus,  106,  146. 

Sidonius  ApoUinaris,  140  sqq. 

Sisebutus,  191. 

Socrates,  119. 

Sozomen,  119. 

Stephanus  of  Byzantium,  17. 

Strabo,  17,  21  note,  41  sqq.,  52. 

Suetonius,  39  sq.,  46,  57,  60. 

Suidas,  99  note. 

Sulla,  20. 

Sulpicius  Alexander,  98. 

Sulpicius  Severus,  120,  128  note. 


Symmachus,  137,  I59- 
Syncellus,  70  note. 
Synesius,  140. 

Table  of  Peutinger.   See  Peutinger, 

Table  of. 
Tacitus,  35,  39.  46  sqq.,  60,  159. 
Themistius,  135  sqq. 
Theodoret,  119. 
Theodosian  Code.   See  Code,  Theo- 

dosian. 
Trebellius    Pollio.     See    Augustan 

Histories. 
Trogus  Pompeius,  21  note,  159. 

Ulfilas,  86  note. 

Valesian  Fragment.  See  Anony- 
mus  Valesianus. 

Velleius  Paterculus,  27  note,  37  sqq. 

Venantius  Fortunatus.  See  For- 
tunatus. 

Venerable  Bede.    See  Bede. 

Victor  of  Aquitaine,  149. 

Victor  Aurelius.  See  Aurelius 
Victor. 

Victor  Tonnennensis,  149  sq.,  153  sq. 

Victor  Vitensis,  127,  143. 

Vincent  of  Lerins,  127  note. 

Vopiscus.    See  Augustan  Histories. 

Vulcacius  Gallicanus.  See  Augus- 
tan Histories. 

Xiphilinus,  55. 

Zonaras,  55,  70  note. 
Zosimus,  88  sqq.,  104,  161  sq. 


VITA 

The  author  of  the  foregoing  pages  was  born  at  Afton, 
New  York,  May  i6,  1882.  He  prepared  for  college  at 
Afton  High  School  and  graduated  from  Columbia  College 
in  1904,  with  highest  general  honors.  The  following  year 
he  was  President's  University  Scholar  in  European  History 
at  Columbia  and  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 
In  1905-1906  he  was  Fellow  in  European  History  in  Colum- 
bia University.  He  attended  courses  under  Professors 
Robinson,  Sloane,  Osgood,  Dunning,  Shepherd,  Botsford, 
Burgess,  and  J.  B.  Moore,  and  was  a  member  of  Professor 
Robinson's  seminar.  He  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Historical  Association  and  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society. 
Since  February  1907  he  has  been  Lecturer  in  History  in 
Columbia  University. 

991 


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